With Spring Cleaning upon us, the medicine cabinet shouldn’t be overlooked. Prescription medications are important to keep up with, including expired or unused ones. If you find yourself with expired or unused medications, it is equally imperative to dispose of them properly.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) provide location searches for year-round drug take-back programs. The NABP estimates about 35,000 emergency room visits are due to accidental overdoses of children under the age of 5. Additionally, Wake Med estimates that 1 in 4 teenagers report misusing prescription drugs. Proper disposal decreases the risk of potential poisoning, and drug abuse and misuse.
Many local regions, hospitals, and universities provide year-round drop-off locations:
If you plan to engage with any drug take-back program, the location’s drop-off guidelines must be followed. While different locations may or may not accept certain kinds of medications or ointments, general rules include:
- Cross off any personal information before disposing medication bottles/packages.
- Verify what locations may accept controlled substances and/or various forms of medication.
- If drop-off options are unavailable to you, refer to the FDA’s Flush List for safe flush disposal.
The DEA hosts nationwide drug take-back days twice a year, typically in April and October. According to Stericycle, a nationwide medical waste organization, the DEA’s bi-annual Take Back Day has resulted in approximately 19.8 million pounds of collected medication.
In addition to take-back programs, there are various sources for donation opportunities. About $1.1 billion worth of drugs were disposed of, according to the statistics provided by NABP. SIRUM also offers a medication donation program. As with proper disposal, it is important to follow the guidelines for compliant donation including:
- Sealed/Unopened
- 5+ months from expiration
- Non-refrigerated
- Non-controlled
Other donation options include recycling empty pill bottles through organizations such as Matthew 25 Ministries, who provide resources for communities both nationwide and internationally that experience economic or disaster-related hardships. Additional recycling resources are provided through Medical Waste Pros.
Proper disposal of prescription medication is step towards safer households and communities each of us can take.
