Disposing of Drugs Properly

We have several bottles of medicine from the kids being ill (mainly antibiotics) that I have not been able to figure out what to do with. Normally you would take all of something that is prescribed to you, but with them switching antibiotics because the others were ineffective (both with Jake and Mari) we have about five bottle of left over antibiotics. The doctor has decided that it wasn't allergies after all (I am still having allergy difficulties though) and so I have two bottles of Nasonex (they cost me $95 each) and two different inhaled steroids that were prescribed for Mari (one box was never even opened). Ugh, I will stop now, because I feel a our health care is broken rant forming at my finger tips. Anyway, here is what you are supposed to do with leftover drugs. I searched several times before I found this on(after logging in to) the Walgreens Pharmacy site. I guess I will call tomorrow and see if they will let me drop them off there as I don't quite like the other suggestion (plus I don't want to give up any of my coffee grounds as they are great in the compost).

Topic: Drugs, Proper Disposal
Question: How should I dispose of old or unused medication?

Answer:Because of hazards to humans, pets, and the environment, the old guidelines—flushing unwanted medications down the toilet or putting them in the trash—are no longer advised. Children, pets, and indigent people may find medications in the trash and become accidentally poisoned, and putting medications in the trash or down the toilet means they can find their way into water sources and landfills, and pollute them—causing danger to humans, animals, fish, and vegetation.

Why do we discard medications? There are many reasons: For example, the drug may have expired, it may not have worked for the patient, the prescription was changed to a different drug, the patient forgot or refused to take the drug, or the drug caused uncomfortable side effects.

The Federal government released new guidelines for proper medication disposal in early 2007. These guidelines, released jointly by The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urge Americans to take these steps:


§ Take unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs out of their original containers.

§ Mix the prescription drugs with an undesirable substance such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter, and put them in impermeable, nondescript containers such as empty cans or sealable bags, further ensuring that the drugs are not diverted or accidentally ingested by children or pets.

§ Throw these containers in the trash.

§ Flush prescription drugs down the toilet only if the accompanying patient information specifically instructs it is safe to do so and your state permits such actions.

§ Return unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs to pharmaceutical take-back locations that allow the public to bring unused drugs to a central location for safe disposal.


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