How Best to Dispose of Unused Medication?

[HonoluluMom]

I asked a pharmacist neighbor about Tylenol with codeine and she said to crush the tablets, add water, wrap it in a paper towel and throw it in the trash.

[xmasbabycomin]

Definitely do not flush it. There are traces of hormones and all sorts of nasty stuff in our water from all the disposed meds. Ideally, you take it to one of the disposal sites. Most pharmacies won't take it now (I called 5), so that link is great, Mommy2Abby! I've had a big bottle of expired meds waiting for something like that! If you can't take it to a site, crush it with kitty litter or coffee grounds and a little water, seal it and put it in the trash.

[jvs195]

I had read to put them in coffee grounds in the trash, but now will try to see if I can get it together by the 25th. I also have syringes and fertility drugs that have long expired, can I bring those too?

[Ceepa]

I took some to the pharmacy. At first the pharmacist said it wasn't their policy to dispose of old medication until I showed him it was a controlled drug. He immediately agreed to take it for disposal.

[mommylamb]

Hmmm... how is it that I accidentally posted this in the bargains board. I meant to put it in the lounge... not sure how to move it. Oh well.

[elektra]

Hmmm... how is it that I accidentally posted this in the bargains board. I meant to put it in the lounge... not sure how to move it. Oh well.

Were you hoping someone would PM you, offering to take it off your hands for a bargain price?
I didn't even notice that!

[vball4all]

Sounds like the path of least resistance and guilt is the pharmacy. Thanks for the suggestions.

And, Electra, I don't think you're a addict in waiting for keeping it around for those circumstances. We've been pretty lucky (knock on wood) in that neither of us has been in many situations where we've needed real pain meds, so in my head I feel like it will never happen, which probably isn't the most realistic thing.

Electra, although you may have enough self control, others may not...or (more than likely), they have teenagers who mis-use it. My BFF has a 19 year old step son who is severely addicted to Oxytocin (sp?) - its really scary.

Kudos to those who clear their cabinets or lock them in safes!

[mommylamb]

Were you hoping someone would PM you, offering to take it off your hands for a bargain price?
I didn't even notice that!

[MaiseyDog]

Please don't throw it in the trash...it will pollute the ground and water.
You can take any unused/expired medication (OTC or prescription) to almost any pharmacy and they'll properly dispose of it for you.

This depends on your state. My state does not allow the pharmacy to accept back any medication that has left the building. Also, the pharmacy doesn't have any special way to dispose of medications. They throw them away. Here is the information we give our patients and the guidelines we follow when dealing with disposal of medication.

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/...p_disposal.pdf

Also, here is the list of medications that the FDA recommends to flush

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesFo....htm#MEDICINES

[Olivia1094]

Good timing! Apparently September 25th is a nationwide drug take back day -- see the link below for a search engine for a location near you.

http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/takeback/

Thank you so much for the link! My friend is a pharmacist and I asked her about this a while back. She said pharmacies here (US) do not take back drugs for disposal (usually). Where she is from (Holland) they do and she was surprised that we don't. It's bad to flush them for sure. Yeah! Now I can clean out my medicine cabinet properly.


OP-Glad you posted on here as I hardly check the lounge. LOL though at "advertising."