A quick guide to safe medication disposal

It’s not uncommon to have medications that have either expired or are no longer of use in your home. Not disposing of unneeded or expired medications can be risky. For example, children or pets could be harmed if these medications are unintentionally accessed and ingested. Furthermore, expired medications are often less effective and could have additional safety concerns, like bacterial growth in the case of eye drops.

Some common but incorrect methods of medication disposal include flushing medications down the toilet or throwing them in the garbage. Problems with these methods include the environmental impact of pharmaceuticals that make their way into lakes or rivers as well as concerns surrounding diversion of opioids.

Luckily, Torontonians have an easy and safe option for disposing of medications as well as sharps (like needles or lancets) — take them to your pharmacy.

Pharmacies throughout the city accept medications and sharps for disposal free of charge. Pharmacies become “collection sites” by signing an agreement with a not-for-profit organization known as the Health Products Stewardship Association (HPSA).

To find a participating pharmacy near you, use the tool on the HPSA website at bit.ly/todropoff

You can return both prescription and non-prescription medications, including any vitamins, supplements or natural health products.

Here’s a quick guide to disposing of your medications in Toronto:

1. Empty any pills (tablets, capsules, etc.) into a bag. Medication vials are not accepted by the HPSA’s disposal program;

2. Rinse and recycle your empty vials in your blue bin. Make sure to remove any personal information before recycling your vials. For example, shred labels or securely black out your information;

3. Creams, ointments, liquids or inhalers should not be emptied/disassembled. Simply return them to the pharmacy in their original packaging (i.e. keep creams in tubes/containers or liquids in bottles), making sure to remove any personal information as described above;

4. Any sharps must be returned in an approved sharps container which can obtained for free at your pharmacy;

5. Cosmetics and commercial waste are not accepted for disposal.

Another service offered by pharmacies to assist with medication disposal is MedsCheck at Home.

This service involves a home visit from your pharmacist to review your medications with you, identify and resolve any issues, provide you with an up-to-date record of everything you are currently taking and discuss any medication-related questions you might have.

The pharmacist will also assess your medication storage area with you and remove anything that is expired or that you no longer take. These medications will then be brought back to the pharmacy for proper disposal. You may be eligible for this service (free of charge) once a year if you are taking three or more prescription medications and are not able to visit your pharmacy in person as a result of your health.

Your pharmacy is a valuable and convenient resource for your medication disposal needs! Don’t hesitate to reach out to your pharmacist for any questions you may have about these services.

Full article here.