How to Properly Dispose of Medications

At one point or another we've all had to take some sort of medication. Usually, thankfully, we get through it and move on but sometimes we have some medication leftover. In the medicine cabinet there may be some expired medications lurking around that can no longer be used. Fortunately, most medications are not extremely harmful once they have gone beyond their expiration date but you're still going to want to dispose of them appropriately. So what do you do with them?

Well, depending on the particular medication, how you will dispose of it varies. For liquids and suspensions, you can simply mix them with something inedible such as kitty litter, used coffee grounds, or a little bit of garden soil or potting soil. After mixing, just put it in a plastic bag or disposable sealable container and toss out with the regular household trash.

Now if a particular medication poses a risk if ingested by anyone other the person for whom it was originally intended then you're going to want to take additional precautions. Certain medications specifically need to be either be drained down a sink or flushed down a toilet once they are no longer needed. Your pharmacist will and should tell you if a particular medication you have been dispensed or are purchasing over-the-counter falls into this group. You can also always call the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to find out the same information and they have a special line set up for this at 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332).

Lately there has been some concern about traces of medications being found in the water supply. Studies are on-going to find out if/what danger this may pose to humans and animals alike but to date scientists have not found any concrete evidence that the presence of trace medications in the environment cause any harmful events to humans. The list of drugs that the FDA has approved for flushing is a short one and they (the FDA) believe that the potential risk to people that is posed by flushing them does outweigh the "real possibility of life-threatening risks from the accidental ingestion of these medications." And there you have it!

If you'd like a list of the medications that are on the "flushable" list hop on over to http://www.drug-side-effects-and-clinical-trials.com/Buzzle and use the "Contact Me" form to send a request for the list and it will be delivered right into your inbox.

Aside from the above methods discussed, there are also programs known as "drug take-back" programs that will help you get rid of unwanted or expired medications. These programs are usually organized and run by your city or county through their trash/recycling departments. You'll want to call whichever one of these in your locality that is responsible for sanitation to find out if such a program exists in your area.

Get List of Flushable Medications
Use the "Contact Me" form to let me know you'd like to get a copy the list of medications that are flushable.