Safe Ways To Remove Expired Medications

Those partially used prescriptions piling up in some American households present hazards that can easily be avoided.

Overdose and accidental ingestion are two concerns that can be sidestepped by safely disposing medication that has expired or you are no longer using.

Instead of flushing, look for medicine take-back programs in your area or use collectors authorized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). These authorized collectors safely and securely dispose of controlled substances and other prescription drugs.Authorized collectors are typically found at pharmacies, health clinics, hospitals and law enforcement offices.

Some pharmacies even have mail-back envelopes that people can use to safely dispose of their unused medicine.

Accidental exposure to medicines remains a major source of unintentional poisonings in the United States

Roughly 20 percent of the roughly 2.2 million calls placed to Poison Control Centers in 2016 were for ingestion of a prescription or over-the-counter medication.

Around 9 percent of these cases involved accidental exposure to another person’s medicine. Victims were 6 and younger in roughly 5,000 of these accidental exposure cases.

Below, the FDA offers tips and suggestions for properly disposing medication:

Deposit it. Find an authorized collector in your area online, or call the DEA Office of Diversion Control’s Registration Call Center at 1-800-882-9539 to find a drop-off location near you.

Protect your identity. Scratch out all personal information on prescription labels before discarding the bottle.
See if you can help others. Twenty states, including Florida, Michigan, California, Arizona and Texas even allow people to donate their unused/unexpired medications. These programs aim to help those who otherwise wouldn’t access prescription medication. Many safeguards are built into these programs to ward off abuse. Generally, medicines containing controlled substances are prohibited, and a pharmacist must check every donation to verify its contents.
Other sites for information. www.dontrushtoflush.org/locations, www.takebackyourmeds.org, www.fda.gov/drugs, www.walgreens.com.