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Whats the proper way to dispose of expired medications?
I'm cleaning out the bathroom cabinets, and I have no idea what the proper way is to dispose of old, expired prescription and OTC medications. I'm afraid to put them in the rubbish for fear of children or animals somehow getting to them further down the road, but it seems that flushing them down the toilet would be environmentally harmful. Could someone clue me in, please?
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02-28-2006 09:49 AM
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Re: Whats the proper way to dispose of expired medications?
How should dispose of leftover or expired medication?
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The best and easiest way to dispose of leftover or expired medicines is to flush them down the toilet. That also guarantees that children and pets can't eat them.
Get rid of old or expired medicines and leftover prescription medicines, since they may no longer be safe or effective. Check each medicine's label to find its expiration date. If you can't find the date on a prescription medicine, use the general rule that most expire one year after you get them. If you've had a prescription medicine for more than one year or aren't sure when you received it, play it safe: dispose of the medicine and get a new prescription. Throw away any medicine that looks damaged, discolored, or otherwise different from the way it did when it was new. If you have any questions about whether your medicines are safe to take, ask your pharmacist
Why not learn to enjoy the little things - there are so many of them.
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Re: Whats the proper way to dispose of expired medications?
The time is always right to do what is right. ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1929-1968
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Re: Whats the proper way to dispose of expired medications?
we flush ours....i have to waste alot of narcotics down the toilet all of the time with my job. sometimes i wonder if i'm going to clog the toilet line there is so many.
There is always someone bigger and badder than you!
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Re: Whats the proper way to dispose of expired medications?
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Re: Whats the proper way to dispose of expired medications?
Please stop flushing them, I wasn't happy with your answer, folks, so I googled it and found this:
"So first, it's important to know what NOT to do: don't flush it, no matter whether the medication is a liquid or a solid. The US EPA has deemed flushing expired medications—otherwise known as PPCPs (pharmaceuticals and personal care products) in domestic sewage systems as the “least desirable way to dispose of any drug.” According to the EPA, “If you throw your PPCPs down the drain or flush them down the toilet, and if your home is connected to a municipal sewage system, some of the PPCPs would typically be discharged into lakes, rivers, or oceans, because most waste water treatment plants are not designed to remove or destroy PPCPs from wastewater.” Studies indicate that domestic septic systems do not destroy PPCPs either. Here in Boulder County , a recent study performed by the US Geological Survey confirmed that prescription and nonprescription drugs were not removed by our water treatment plant.
Research on the effects of PPCPs in our water has focused on hormone disruption in fish and increased resistance to antibiotics due to an abundance of estrogen and antibiotics in the water. The risks posed by other PPCPs are largely unknown and unstudied. The environmental issues could be as varied and diverse as the number of chemicals in use."
Apparently some pharmacies will take expired medications and dispose of them properly, including Kaiser Permanente, which happens to be my pharmacy so I'm in luck. You can find the entire article right here:
http://www.ecocycle.org/askeco-cycle/20040123.cfm
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Re: Whats the proper way to dispose of expired medications?
Originally Posted by
NoFoolPrice
Please stop flushing them, I wasn't happy with your answer, folks, so I googled it and found this:
i can't, it's required by law.
There is always someone bigger and badder than you!
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Re: Whats the proper way to dispose of expired medications?
I've got to go to the pharmacy tomarrow so I'll ask them.
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Re: Whats the proper way to dispose of expired medications?
I don't like the idea of flushing either but when I called my pharmacy that is what they told me to do. Just imagine all the junk we are exposed to in our drinking water. 
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The Following User Says Thank You to janelle For This Useful Post:
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Re: Whats the proper way to dispose of expired medications?
When both my Mom & Father-in-law recently passed away, they left a ton of medications, from Xanax to Morphine, we were told by a pharmacist(Walgreens) and by hospice (2 different ones) to just flush what we had left....I guess all these professionals that deal with prescriptions should get together with the government and figure out one disposal method, so I'll just go on flushing...
Why not learn to enjoy the little things - there are so many of them.
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The Following User Says Thank You to catssass For This Useful Post:
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Registered User
Re: Whats the proper way to dispose of expired medications?
Flushing...if you can't find other ways is the best answer in my opinion. Read an article online today that getting drinks at restaurants, fast food, etc. is much worse than drinking toilet water! Yuck!!! The sad thing is we are all guilty of eating out and being exposed to this...and pay for it! Are we all stupid? I don't think so...we just have to make changes for the next generation. Times are tuff. What do you think Kaiser does with what they obtain? Send them to Mars? I don't think so! They are disposed of and nothing...no option is a good one...jut do the best you can do! And thanks for even caring...most don't.
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