Where to keep medicines at home (not the bathroom)

The bathroom cabinet is the traditional spot and close to the worst one available. Steam and heat degrade medicines faster than most people realise.

Somewhere cool, dry and dark

A bedroom drawer or a high kitchen shelf away from the stove works well. Away from windows — sunlight degrades several common drugs.

Keep the original packaging

The carton carries the batch number and expiry, and blister foil protects against moisture. Loose tablets in a pill box are fine for the day's doses, not for storage.

The fridge is for what says fridge

Insulin and some eye drops need 2–8°C. Everything else is usually better outside it; condensation is its own problem.

Out of reach

High and, where there are small children, locked. Paediatric syrups taste pleasant, which is exactly the risk.

Clear it out twice a year

Check expiries, and return anything expired to a pharmacy that accepts it for disposal rather than binning it.