Do you realize that you gave THIS reference?? (and you tried to point out what they made fun of - which leads me to believe you don't wish to read to understand.) You clearly didn't read this and it was barely 2 screens long.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...drugs-kill-you
Which Stated:
But you don’t see anyone pushing for expiration date reform. Why not? No doubt because of the same combination of greed and excessive caution that drives up all healthcare costs: (1) The drug companies potentially could forego billions of dollars in lost sales; (2) the amount individual consumers could save is relatively trifling; and (3) there’s a remote but nonzero chance somebody relying on defunct drugs could die.
This last belief is based partly on a 1963 study claiming expired tetracycline had caused kidney damage. But that contention has been questioned, and in any case the problematic formulation of tetracycline is no longer made.