Do not throw away expired drugs carelessly! this is the right way: function, dosage, side effects, how to use

Medicines play an important role in treating many conditions and ailments, but when you no longer need them, it is important to dispose of them properly to help prevent the drugs from mixing with one another.

"Medicines that are stored for too long may have passed half their time limit, causing them to no longer work effectively," said Kimberly Cimarelli, pharmacy manager at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

In addition, the chemical composition in drugs can change over time, making them dangerous if taken past their useful life.

However, how to properly dispose of expired drugs? It may seem easy to flush used medicines down the toilet or throw them in the trash with other household waste. This is not a good idea.

Medicines thrown down the toilet dissolve in water and pollute rivers, lakes and clean water supplies. Throwing expired medicine in the trash can also be harmful to the environment, and it can still be found by children, pets - and even adults who deliberately want to abuse drugs.

Below, we provide some specific recommendations and instructions for you to consider when disposing of any remnants of expired, used or no longer used medicines.

1. Trust expired drugs to the official agency

Collect medicines that are not used. After a fair amount, take it to the nearest official agency, such as a drug factory, pharmacy, hospital, or police station that is responsible for handling legal disposal of drugs.

These parties will carry out routine destruction of expired drug stocks. After being collected, these expired drugs will be burned to protect the surrounding environment from drug contamination.

They accept prescription and non-prescription drugs, but usually they will not accept sharp objects (such as used syringes), liquid medicines, creams and ointments, and inhalations.

In addition, you can also contact the Sanitation and Landscaping Office of your city or district, or your local waste management authority for information on options for disposing of expired drugs in your area.

2. Take out the trash at home

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), if there is no official used drug care program available in your area of ​​residence, you can follow the simple steps below to dispose of some medicines in the household trash:

First, mix the medication (but don't crush the tablet or open the capsule) with a disgusting substance, such as food waste, dust, pet waste, or coffee grounds. This is to make these drugs unsightly to prevent children and your pets from rummaging through trash cans, as well as deter strangers who may be deliberately looking for drugs for their own use.

Second, put the waste mixture in a special place such as an airtight container or zip-top (but don't use a plastic plastic bag) to avoid leakage, and put the container in your trash.

Third, before throwing away the medicine bottle or other empty medicine packaging, the physical appearance is always damaged. Remove or cross out the packaging sticker containing your personal data, if any, and cut out the cardboard packaging to make it difficult to read. This is intended to prevent counterfeiting or illegal refills, because irresponsible people may take the drug bottles with a sticker and then be filled with counterfeit drugs.

3. Throwing expired medicine in the toilet

Some prescription drugs that contain controlled substances, such as opiates (fentanyl, morphine, diazepam, oxycodone, buprenoprhine) should not be thrown directly into the trash, as this method may still allow children or pets to accidentally ingest these drugs. the drug.

It is a good idea to check again before completely discarding. Some other medicines - such as chemotherapy drugs - come with specific disposal instructions along with the location where you need to dispose of them.

If you cannot find an authorized disposal site, it is recommended to dispose of medicines such as the above by flushing them down the toilet as soon as they are no longer in use.

For example, suppose you are using a fentanyl patch for chronic pain relief. Immediately squeeze the old patch and other leftover patches in packages that are no longer needed, and flush them into the toilet. When you dispose of strong substances like this, you will help keep others around you safe by ensuring that they can no longer be used or that they are accidentally swallowed and cause harm.

However, some healthcare professionals and scientists appear to disagree with this method for environmental safety reasons. However, the FDA argues that drugs like these can be fatal in just one dose for ordinary people who shouldn't take them.

"We believe that this risk far exceeds the potential risk to human health or the environment that may come from dumping expired drugs in the toilet," the FDA said, quoted by CNN.