Is your medicine cabinet full of expired drugs or medications you no longer use? Your medicine is for you. What’s safe for you might be harmful for someone else. You can dispose of your expired, unwanted, or unused medicines through a drug take back program — or you can do it at home.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sponsors National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 29 in communities nationwide. Many communities also have their own drug take back programs. Check with your local pharmacist or law enforcement officials to find a location near you or with the DEA to find a DEA-authorized collector in your community. Many Walgreens drugstores have disposal kiosks for unused medicines.
There are two ways to dispose of medicine, depending on the drug.
Flushing medicines:
Because some medicines could be especially harmful to others, they have specific directions to immediately flush them down the sink or toilet when they are no longer needed. How will you know? Check the label or the patient information leaflet with your medicine. Or consult the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s list of medicines recommended for disposal by flushing.
Disposing medicines in household trash:
Almost all medicines can be thrown into your household trash. These include prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs in pills, liquids, drops, patches, creams, and inhalers.
Follow these steps:
1. Remove the drugs from their original containers and mix them with something undesirable, such as used coffee grounds, dirt, or cat litter.
2. Put the drugs in something you can close (a zipper storage bag,) to prevent the drug from leaking or spilling out.
3. Remove your personal information label on the empty medicine packaging. Recycle or throw the packaging away.
If you have a question about your medicine, ask your health care provider or pharmacist. Check the FDA website for more info at https://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm101653.htm.