Not sure how old this paracetamol (acetaminophen) is

I'm pretty sure the only issue with taking dated acetaminophen is that it begins to lose potency after a while and may not be as effective as it was originally.

I take expired acetaminophen and ibuprofen all the time and haven't died yet.

 

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What's that

 

Basically Tylenol and it really depends on how dated it is.

 

I can only answer this from the US perspective.

US law requires that medications have an expiration date on the bottle. That date, technically, is the date through which the manufacturer guarantees potency. It is not the date that indicates when the medication is "no longer any good".

With the exception of antibiotics, most medications can safely be taken after the expiration date.

The number one problem with medication stability is environmental exposure. So, if you live in a humid climate or the medication has been exposed to sunlight or heat, you probably want to discard it. Often, the pills begin to crumble, and this is a sign that the inert ingredients in the pill that stabilize the structure of the pill have been exposed to the environment and have begun to destabilize.

If the medication has been stored properly, it is usually good past the expiration date. There's no specific studies on how long but I have seen public health programs where medications that have passed their expiration date are sent to developing countries and are used up to 5 years past the expiration date.

 

My ex girlfriend is a pharmacist. That drug is one of the few that does break down and become poisionous over time. Actually, even before the expiration date it is slightly toxic. This is the reason you should NEVER exceed the dosage limit for this drug. Now, it should be safe if it is recently expired, as the expiration dates are set to be very conservative, to allow for them to still be effective and safe even if they were stored in the worst reasonable storage conditions (hot and humid). You'd be amazed how many people keep OTC meds in their glovebox. RX medications have slightly less stringent requirements on this, as you are expected to have consulted with a doctor and possibly a pharmacist (chemist in some parts of the world) before recieving the drug.