I have been experimenting with my doctor on a treatment that will work for me on a certain condition but in the process I have accumulated a cupboard full of bottles of pills. I don't know what to do with them and I asked a pharmacist and believe it or not but they told me to flush or bury them in the ground! Being worried about a child finding them and the envirnonment, I was wondering how do I dispose of them?
2007-06-29 08:12:50 · 9 answers · asked by Miya Miya 5 in Environment ➔ Other - Environment
They are all pain medications so the worst that could happen is; I would Die!!!!
Real answers please!
2007-06-29 08:43:37 · update #1
You don’t have to have the full script filled at the first try.. say the Dr. writes an order for …30 xxx 1MG pills one to be taken every day…
You start it and 5 days in don’t like the desired effect… Dr. d/c the order and starts a new one.. well you can ask the pharmacy or even the dr. to have the first filling be for 5 pills (or what ever is best)this saves a huge amount of money for you and everyone elce…
In my training for a cret. Medication aid we are told to flush small amounts but there is a big change happening in the biss. Too. Local studies of local water ,rivers and lakes have shown an increase in antidepressants in fish and birth control too. The best is to follow the guide lines for controlled drugs. The pharmacist or a D.E.A. officer has to come and take them back to be incinerated. They probably will not come and take them for you but you can take them in you can call the “drug police and find the local policy befor the pharmacy this way you can state the law when they try to decline the extra work.
Hospital too probably have an incinerator on site…??? Good luck
2007-07-01 12:36:22 · answer #1 · answered by westernmaine-207 2 · 12⤊ 1⤋
Please do not fulsh them...pharmaceutical products are one of many modern product (personal care type products) that find their way to the sewer plants. These plants were not designed to treat these types of chemical contaminents and they pass right through tthe treatment process and end up in our lakes, rivers and the ocean...from there they find their way back into the drinking water supply.
Studies have shown that even at ridiculously low levels these pharmaceutical products may have an effect on the endocrine system...this is a system in the human body that regulates and produces hormones. The pharmaceutical products disrupt that process and are now referred to in a general way as "Endocrine Disruptors". This is a real problem with real consequences and very difficult to solve. The pharmacist that told you to flush them is irresponsible - you should find a responsible pharmacy and take your business there.
2007-06-29 11:30:50 · answer #2 · answered by Nginr 3 · 1⤊ 4⤋
DON'T FLUSH THEM and DON'T BURY THEM!!!!!
Hope I got that point across. If your pharmacist won't dispose of them, contact your local hospital or clinic. Ask if you can have them disposed of with the Biohazard trash. That trashed is burned to a crisp!!
2007-06-29 14:06:05 · answer #3 · answered by patience3987 4 · 6⤊ 1⤋
O.K., first, don't flush them down the toilet (cause further water pollution) and don't throw them into the trash (cause further soil pollution).
There should be a proper disposal site in your area that can handle them, much like recycling old computer/electrical gadgets (which have mercury and all sorts of bad stuff in them).
Medications are a major pollutant!
If nothing else, check your local govenment.
2007-06-29 08:50:51 · answer #4 · answered by Nothingusefullearnedinschool 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
thats very odd of your pharmacist to say that to you. In new zealand we are encourage to take unused pills back to the pharmacist where they can get rid of them safely. I would try another pharmacist. Glad to hear that someone else out there cares about the environment!
2007-06-29 08:47:56 · answer #5 · answered by kiwigirl 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
If you don't want to flush or bury them, what do you think the pharmacist is going to do with them? Will it make you feel better not knowing? Your body doesn't metabolize all the medication you take, where you you think it goes? *flush*
Don't believe me? Pee in a pop bottle and see what settles out in the bottom.
If you were given a prescription and did not finish off the entire prescribed amount then 1. you shouldn't have been prescribed that much, and 2. the remaining pills are garbage.
2007-06-29 09:56:48 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 7⤋
try a different pharmacy, im sure they are required to dispose of all meds not used appropriatly
2007-06-29 08:18:15 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
I flush!
2007-06-29 13:56:56 · answer #8 · answered by Ivan S 6 · 2⤊ 5⤋
people will pay good money for pain meds
2007-06-29 18:27:31 · answer #9 · answered by rome 5 · 11⤊ 6⤋