Medication Safety. By Our Student Pharmacist, Kendra Terry.

March 29th, 2022

With last week being National Poison Prevention Week, I wanted to share some information about medication safety. While medications can be lifesaving and an essential part of maintaining our health, if used inappropriately or incorrectly, they can potentially be harmful.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 125,000 people die each year due to medications being taken incorrectly. Additionally, each year, accidental medication ingestion by children leads to:

60,000 emergency room visits
450,000 calls to poison control

These accidents are why it is very important to make sure medications are stored and disposed of properly!

Below are some medication safety tips and guidance on safe medication storage and disposal.

General Medication Safety Tips

Take all medications the way they are prescribed
Never take another person’s prescription medication
Do not abruptly stop taking any medications or skip doses without talking to your doctor or pharmacist
Keep an updated list of all medications you take, both prescription and non-prescription
Ask your doctor or pharmacist before starting any over-the-counter medications or supplements. We can check to make sure the medication is appropriate for you and identify any interactions it may have with your other medications.

Drug Storage

In most cases, medications should be stored in a cool, dry place. You should avoid leaving medications in the bathroom due to changes in temperature and humidity. Be sure to read storage information for all of your prescriptions, as some may need to be stored in the refrigerator. Additionally, medications should be kept in a location that is hard for children or pets to access.

Drug Disposal

If you have unused or expired medications, it is best to remove them from your household to prevent accidental or intentional ingestion by others. Most communities have drug disposal boxes at police or fire departments, as well as certain pharmacies. You can find drug disposal boxes in your area at the following website:

https://safe.pharmacy/drug-disposal/

If you are unable to dispose of medications using a disposal box, there are ways to safely dispose of medications at home. Before disposing of medications, be sure to read the label or package insert to see if any disposal instructions are provided.

Most medications should not be flushed down the toilet, but there are certain exceptions to this. Medications that can be flushed are those that have the potential to be abused and/or can be fatal after one dose if taken inappropriately.

The following medications should be flushed if a drug disposal box is not an option. These include medications that contain:

buprenorphine
fentanyl
hydrocodone
oxycodone
oxymorphone
hydromorphone
methadone
morphine
tapentadol

For other medications, you can mix the drugs in a plastic bag with coffee grounds or cat litter, seal the bag, and throw it in the trash.

Sharps Disposal

If you use any injectable medications, such as insulin, it is very important that you dispose of your used needles appropriately. All needles should immediately be placed in a sharps disposal container after use. These can be purchased at most pharmacies or medical supply stores. If you do not have access to a sharps container, you can dispose of used needles in an empty laundry detergent bottle or other heavy-duty plastic container.

Once your sharps container is approximately 3/4ths full, you should place the lid on the container, seal it with tape, and label the container “DO NOT RECYCLE”. You can throw the container away with household trash, but trash collectors may be reluctant to take the sharps container. You can find locations to take your full sharps container at the following website: