I'm a pharmacist. Sorry, Olddude, excess meds *have* to be destroyed, they can't safely be re-used.

The point being - from the point of view of any health professional - is, that once the med has gone out of the door, you don't know and cannot tell, under what conditions it has been stored. Or if it has been tampered with. So you cannot, ethically give it to any other patient.

Which makes sense in the UK, but NOT in the US, where drug costs quite frequently drive people into bankruptcy.

Losing your house to debt has a much greater chance of causing serious illness than taking improperly stored medication.