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Prescription Drug Proper Disposal
The Federal government issued new guidelines for the proper disposal of unused, unneeded or expired prescription drugs on Feb. 20, 2008. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the new guidelines created to lower the diversion of prescription drugs and protect the environment through safe disposal of prescription drugs. The new Federal prescription guidelines are intended to stop and prevent these occurrences of incorrect disposal of prescription drugs and reduce environmental concerns. Below is a full list of the new guidelines:- Take unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs out of their original containers;
- Mix the prescription drugs with an undesirable substance, like used coffee grounds or kitty litter, and put them in impermeable, non-descript containers, such as empty cans or sealable bags, further ensuring that the drugs are not diverted or accidentally ingested by children or pets;
- Throw these containers in the trash;
- Flush prescription drugs down the toilet ONLY if the accompanying patient information specifically instructs it is safe to do so; or
- Return unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs to pharmaceutical take-back locations that allow the public to bring unused drugs to a central location for safe disposal.
Sources: Office of National Drug Control Policy (2/20/08); medicalnewstoday.com (3/5/08); AP (3/2/08); who.int/impact (2/18/06); fda.gov (2/26/08); monitoringthefuture.com; Drug Topics (8/20/07); courant.com (2/26/08); npsf.org (3/2/08); antidrug.com and whitehousedrugpolicy.com.
Look for these topics in the Late Summer/Early Fall edition of RxNotes arriving to you in July:
- August is Immunization Awareness Month and Psoriasis Awareness Month
- September is Healthy Aging Month and National Cholesterol Education Month
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