Guide

How long does a mixed vial last?

There is no single number that fits every vial. The time limit comes from the label of your product, or from the pharmacy that prepared it.

A small glass vial standing on a refrigerator door shelf.

Vialist does arithmetic on numbers you give it. It does not give dosing advice. Every example here is for illustration only, so use the dose your prescriber gave you and the instructions on your product label or from your pharmacist.

Where the time limit comes from

Each product has its own storage and use instructions. Where a product is FDA approved, they are on its prescribing information. A pharmacy that prepares a vial prints its own date and storage instructions on the label. Those are the numbers to follow. A figure repeated online only applies if your label or your pharmacist says it does.

What official labels say

These are statements taken from the FDA-approved labels on DailyMed. Each applies only to the product named.

  • Novarel (chorionic gonadotropin) for injection. The recommended diluent is Bacteriostatic Water for Injection preserved with benzyl alcohol 0.9%. The label says to refrigerate the reconstituted product at 2° to 8°C (36° to 46°F) and use it within 30 days. Source: Novarel prescribing information, DailyMed. That 30 days belongs to that product. It is not a rule for other products.
  • Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, USP. The label describes a sterile preparation containing 0.9% (9 mg/mL) benzyl alcohol as a bacteriostatic preservative, supplied in a multiple-dose container from which repeated withdrawals may be made to dilute or dissolve drugs for injection. It says to use it only as a diluent or solvent, and that solutions containing benzyl alcohol should not be used in neonates. Source: Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, USP label, DailyMed. That label describes the water. How long the drug you mixed with it lasts comes from that drug's own label.
  • Inspect the liquid. The Depo-Testosterone label says parenteral drug products should be inspected visually for particulate matter and discoloration prior to administration, whenever solution and container permit. Source: Depo-Testosterone prescribing information, DailyMed.

If your vial was prepared by a pharmacy

Follow the date and the storage instructions on the label the pharmacy gave you. If the label is missing or unclear, ask the pharmacist before you use the vial.

For any other product

This guide does not give a number of days for any other product, because a number that is not on an official label or from your pharmacist would be a guess. Read the instructions that came with your product, or ask your pharmacist or prescriber.

Check before you draw

  • Note the date you mixed the vial somewhere you will see it.
  • Store it the way the label says.
  • If the liquid looks cloudy or discolored, or has particles in it, do not use it. Ask your pharmacist.
  • The math for how much to draw is separate. See how to reconstitute a vial.

Vialist Log does this automatically

Vialist counts each vial down as you log doses, so you can see at a glance how much is left. The use-by date itself always comes from your label.

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