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Posted By
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April 19, 2008, 6:50 am
Flag as Inappropriate Kathy22
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Subject
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Proper disposal of medications?
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I was always taught to flush old or expired medications down the toilet. Now I've heard news stories that the medication can end up in our ground water by doing that. Does anyone know the recommended, safe way to dispose of medications now?
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Comments
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April 19, 2008, 1:37 pm
Flag as Inappropriate michelle says...
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Sounds like a great question to ask your doctor.
We always flushed ours down the toilet as well. So, it would be good to know the proper way.
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April 19, 2008, 1:45 pm
Flag as Inappropriate melanie says...
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Actually, I think it is ok to flush some meds still. If they are ok to flush, it should tell you that in the patient information you get with the rx. But in general I'm pretty sure you can just throw most expired meds out in the trash.
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April 19, 2008, 11:12 pm
Flag as Inappropriate purple says...
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I know my old primary physician used to take them to dispose of from me. We used to clean out the medicine cabinet yearly and bring in a bottle with everything in it to be disposed of. My mom flushes stuff, but I worry about it as well. Some drugs are more water soluble than others.
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April 20, 2008, 8:26 am
Flag as Inappropriate skatss says...
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There seems to not be one good answer for this question. Some drugs tell you to flush them down the toilet rather than just throw it in the trash.
If you want to throw out pills, try adding some water to the pills and mix them with kitty litter. That way no one can use them even if they are stolen from your trash. You can then put it into a large plastic container, like liquid laundry detergent comes in, and tape the top shut so it won't go into landfill water leaks. You can also write medical waste on it to be extra safe.
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April 20, 2008, 7:27 pm
Flag as Inappropriate K to the J says...
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I never really paid too much attention to disposing old medications. I always just threw them away. Is that bad? Is there a reason not to throw them away?
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April 21, 2008, 8:48 pm
Flag as Inappropriate Annabelle says...
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Wow, I didn't know people flushed them down the toilet. I rarely have medications, but I wouldn't even consider disposing of them by putting them into the water supply. I suppose I don't really know a much better way considering putting them in the trash could have the same ending effect, though.
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