Storing old or expired medications is something many of us have become accustomed to—often because we are uncertain of proper disposal procedures, or we simply believe the medicine will still work beyond the expiration date. Medication is not something that spoils like milk, so how can you tell when a drug has expired? Prescription and over-the-counter drugs are often given an expiration date to indicate when the drug’s efficacy could start to decrease. While it does not mean the drug has necessarily spoiled, the expiration date indicates the date where the drug will no longer be guaranteed by the manufacturer to be as effective and safe as expected.
Many Americans do not even realize their medications have true expiration dates, and as a result, their cabinets are full of expired drugs. This is even more concerning in households with children. In a recent study from 2022, a total of 2,023 parents were surveyed on the matter and the results determined, “Less than half of parents believe that over-the-counter medicine is less effective past its expiration date, while one in five parents think it’s unsafe”. ¹ This national poll demonstrates a lack of awareness regarding the importance of properly disposing of expired medications.
To help you better understand how to remove drugs from your home, we put together some tips below.
Safety & Storage Tips:
For the prescription drugs you do have that have not yet expired, it is important to store them safely. An article from Medical Xpress stated, “Younger children getting into medicine in the home is a major source of unintentional poisonings. For older children, access to these medicines brings risk of experimentation, diversion to peers, or other intentional misuse”. ¹ To prevent children from getting medications, store in high, out of reach or locked places where they will be very difficult for children of all ages to get their hands on.
Recycling/Disposal Tips:
For prescription drugs that have expired, there are several ways to safely dispose of them. One way to encourage people nationwide to get rid of their medications is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Run by the DEA, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day occurs twice a year and encourages people to “dump” their unwanted drugs at a local drop-off site.
Another approach to remove expired drugs from your home is to reach out to your pharmacist. Pharmacists will be able to guide you through disposal options. Some pharmacies even offer drop-off services where you can mail or drop off your drugs at a box inside the pharmacy.
If you are not able to do either of the above-mentioned options, you can also discard medications safely in your own home. However, you must be extra careful to consider small children or pets that could get into the garbage. Here’s how to discard medications in your home:
- Check to see that the prescription bottle does not contain any personal information. If it does, you can scratch this off or cover your information with a marker. ²
- Check to see if the medication is on the FDA flush list. Some medications, such as those that can result in death from
just one dose if taken inappropriately, are recommended to be flushed down the toilet. Remember, don’t flush your medicine unless it is on the flush list! - If not on the flush list, put the unwanted medications in a Ziploc or sealable bag filled with either dirt, cat litter, or used
coffee grounds—make sure the bag is then closed and secure. - Lastly, throw the container in the garbage and be sure neither children nor pets can get to the discarded bag.
It is always best to keep in mind that, just like the food in your pantry, your medication also has an expiration date. To ensure you are getting the effective treatment you need from your medication, it is important to adhere to a medication’s expiration date. Make sure to go through the contents of your medicine cabinet and, using the tips provided in this article, dispose of your expired medications properly.
For more information, see the below resources:
1: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-10-parents-leftover-prescription-medications-home.html
2: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/where-and-how-dispose-unused-medicines
https://www.cdc.gov/patientsafety/features/medication-storage.html
https://www.dea.gov/takebackday
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/disposal-unused-medicines-what-you-should-know/drug-disposal-fdas-flush-list-certain-medicines
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