Disposal of Unused Prescription Medications - Wake Up People!
I have a nasty sinus something. My doctor is treating it as an infection since it has been hanging around since December. I finally got fed up on Friday last and went to see about it.
The problem at present is that the first antibiotic he prescribed was too strong and made me quite ill. So today he gave me something else which is so far working well. The problem? I have a bottle of pills that I have only taken one from. I attempted to return it to the pharmacy for disposal, since according to the state's information "most" pharmacies will do that. Apparently not Walgreens.
In Ohio we also have a drug repository program for unused meds, but no collection site in this county. This program was signed into state law in 2006. Three years later and it isn't state-wide. Shouldn't the county health departments be collection points?
So I ask how to responsibly dispose of these meds since I don't want more antibiotics to end up in the landfill and eventually the ground water. I'm told to partially dissolve them in water then throw them in the trash with something like kitty litter so people can't abuse them. I am not worried about the local druggie! I am worried about the ground water - the water table is very high here as this area used to be a swamp - get a clue! I point out that this is hardly environmentally responsible and get a blank look and shrug.
So I look to the Federal Government and guess what? That method is EXACTLY what their guidelines, adopted in 2007, say to do. Not surprising given the level of significance the last administration attached to the environment.
Now, we're told that there are more and more antibiotic resistant "bugs" out there, that there are high levels of various prescription drugs in our ground water and our food chain... and the best the EPA can tell me is to throw this stuff in the trash with kitty litter? Newsflash! Kitty litter stays in landfills for a few hundred years too. Clay, you see, is VERY slow to break down.
So I'll wait until the household hazardous waste collection in September. Hopefully they know how to properly handle this stuff.
The problem at present is that the first antibiotic he prescribed was too strong and made me quite ill. So today he gave me something else which is so far working well. The problem? I have a bottle of pills that I have only taken one from. I attempted to return it to the pharmacy for disposal, since according to the state's information "most" pharmacies will do that. Apparently not Walgreens.
In Ohio we also have a drug repository program for unused meds, but no collection site in this county. This program was signed into state law in 2006. Three years later and it isn't state-wide. Shouldn't the county health departments be collection points?
So I ask how to responsibly dispose of these meds since I don't want more antibiotics to end up in the landfill and eventually the ground water. I'm told to partially dissolve them in water then throw them in the trash with something like kitty litter so people can't abuse them. I am not worried about the local druggie! I am worried about the ground water - the water table is very high here as this area used to be a swamp - get a clue! I point out that this is hardly environmentally responsible and get a blank look and shrug.
So I look to the Federal Government and guess what? That method is EXACTLY what their guidelines, adopted in 2007, say to do. Not surprising given the level of significance the last administration attached to the environment.
Now, we're told that there are more and more antibiotic resistant "bugs" out there, that there are high levels of various prescription drugs in our ground water and our food chain... and the best the EPA can tell me is to throw this stuff in the trash with kitty litter? Newsflash! Kitty litter stays in landfills for a few hundred years too. Clay, you see, is VERY slow to break down.
So I'll wait until the household hazardous waste collection in September. Hopefully they know how to properly handle this stuff.
Comments