Proper Medication Disposal

     Many of us have unwanted or expired medications taking up space in our medicine cabinets.  The best thing to do would be to dispose of these unwanted medications to ensure they do not fall into the wrong hands and become misused or abused.  Many of us either flush these medications down the toilet or just throw them away in the trash.  Both of these methods are not the proper way to dispose of unwanted medications and can actually lead to harmful health risks.  Flushing medications down the toilet can actually reach into main water sources and contaminate the water, along with that, simply throwing medications in the trash allows those who have access to that trash the opportunity to misuse these medications.  Always follow the instructions on how to dispose of a medication properly, if given.  If however, there are not specific instructions given you can follow these instructions provided by the Food and Drug Administration. 

1. Take the unused medication and combine them with an unappealing substance like used coffee grounds or kitty litter.  By doing so, the medications will be less appealing and unrecognizable to those who may want to ingest them.

2. Next put this combination into a sealable bag or container to prevent the medication from leaking out of the trash.  Finally, the bag may be placed into the trash bin.

     Another important tip prior to throwing out empty medications bottles into the trash is to remove any personal information labels, to protect patient identity and person health information.  The Drug Enforcement Agency has partnered up with local community organizations to sponsor National Prescription Drug Take Back Days.  These take back days give people within the community the opportunity to go to a central location and bring all of their left over or unwanted medications to be properly disposed of.  This is a great option for people who are unable or want to take that extra precaution in the disposal of their medications.  This website: http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/newsrelease.htm provides current information on current dates and locations of National Prescription Drug Take Back Days, check the site out to see if an event is happening near you! Finally, if you have any questions regarding your medications as well as their disposal, ask you pharmacist, they are there to help you!

-http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm101653.htm

-http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/newsrelease.htm