Safe Medication Disposal
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, many Prescription Drug Take Back locations are not currently accepting medication drop offs, but it remains imperative to continue to safely dispose of unused and unwanted medication at home. If you do not have any Medication Disposal System Bags at home, you can use the following recommendations to safely dispose of your medications.
Resources
South Peninsula Hospital Diabetes Education
U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA)
Safe in-home disposal is easy
For most medications, follow this 3-step process:
Certain Medicines: (Including Opioid Medications) Flush Down the Toilet
MIX
Mix Medicines (do not crush tablets or capsules) with bad-tasting or inedible substance such as used coffee grounds or dirty cat litter.
SEAL
Place the mixture in a container such as a sealed plastic bag.
Throw Away
Remove all identifying information from the medication bottle, throw the bottle and the sealed container in your household trash.
There are medicines that can be especially harmful if used by the wrong person. These products should be disposed of right away to prevent misuse or a medicine mishap. At FDA.gov you can find a specific list of these medicines and recommendations for flushing them down the toilet.