Dangerous Disposal

What do you do with medications when they are no longer needed?

One thing you should not do is flush them down the toilet or wash them down the drain.

Recent studies have demonstrated that medications are polluting our water systems and causing health hazards to others, especially our children.  The better choice is to mix them with used coffee grounds or used cat litter and dispose of them in your trash. You do not need to cut up the pills or break up capsules before disposing of them.

That solution works well for pills and liquids, but not for patches that are applied to the skin.  Most of the active ingredients have been absorbed by the skin when the patch is used as prescribed, but if the patch is removed prematurely there is still medication between the transparent layers that can be absorbed by others if not properly discarded.   These patches should be cut up before discarding them in your trash.  Always wear gloves when cutting patches to avoid contact and absorption with the gel-like medication.

Needles and syringes can be disposed of in red “needle” boxes provided by your health care provider or in thick plastic containers or laundry or dishwasher soap containers.  When the red needle boxes are full, they should be given back to the home care/hospice nurse or healthcare provider for proper disposal.  If you are using a household container, the entire container (with needles and syringes secured inside) may be discarded in your regular trash. You do not need to recap the needles.

Just as you store the medications in a safe place where a child or pet could not get them, the disposed medications and needles should also be kept safely away from children and pets.