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When your medicines are no longer needed, they should be disposed of promptly. Consumers and caregivers should remove expired, unwanted, or unused medicines from their home as quickly as possible to help reduce the chance that others accidentally take or intentionally misuse the unneeded medicine, and to help reduce drugs from entering the environment, says the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Unused or expired medicines can be disposed through “medicine take-back” options, in household trash and by flushing certain potentially dangerous medicines in the toilet.
In the US, medicine take-back options include periodic events and permanent collection sites. In periodic events, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) periodically hosts National Prescription Drug Take-Back events where temporary collection sites are set up in communities nationwide for safe disposal of prescription drugs.
A small number of medicines have specific directions to immediately flush them down the toilet. A single dose can be fatal if consumed by someone who has not been prescribed the medicine. In permanent collection sites, unneeded medicines are transferred to DEA-registered collectors that collect and dispose pharmaceuticals containing controlled substances, etc. Local law enforcement agencies may also sponsor medicine take-back events in your community.
In the absence of such programmes or flushing instructions, here are simple steps to dispose most medicines in household trash: Mix medicines (do not crush tablets or capsules) with an unpalatable substance such as dirt, cat litter, or used coffee grounds; place the mixture in a container such as a sealed plastic bag; throw the container in your household trash; and delete all personal information on the prescription label of empty pill bottles or medicine packaging, then dispose the container.
Promptly disposing unneeded medications can help prevent accidental exposure to, including ingestion of, these potentially dangerous medicines by children and others, including pets.
Source : USFDA
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