I understand how you must have felt. Many times, laws do not make sense to me. The FDA can approve drugs that were proven to be dangerous, then later when the heat is on they will pull them off shelves, but they won't test look into a program of unused drugs that could potentially help people. I will never understand.
I know it's a waste, but you wouldn't want to be responsible in this litiginous age if 1) addictive drugs got given to someone who shouldn't have them 2) somehow the drugs were labeled wrong or switched in the containers or something like that so that someone got the wrong drug by accident 3) drugs that were less potent because of age or poor storage were given to someone and therefore the drugs didn't work effectively or 4) someone took a prescription drug without having an actual prescription for some reason and problems ensued. There are good reasons why prescription drugs need to remain under close supervision of the professionals who prescribe and dispense them. YOU may be very responsible about knowing the drugs are all correct in an good condition, but how can anyone else know that for sure? We can't. And we all know there are plenty of irresponsible people in the world who you would never in a million years want to accept old drugs from. (Don't know if you have ever seen the stashes of prescription drugs that homeless people carry around with them. These people end in up in hospitals a lot, and every time they walk out with a new pile of drugs for their diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. It can be totally mind-boggling to see how many and what kind of little brown bottles they have....many unused and unopened.....but I certainly wouldn't want to trust what's in those bottles for re-use)
There are a lot of public health oriented rules in the world; many do waste money I would agree. And the reality of economics today is that there are only costs involved in developing a program of testing old drugs for safety. There's no profit in it for anybody, so I doubt that anybody will ever develop a system for re-cycling unused drugs.
The same thing goes for fast food resturants. I worked for McDonald and the amount of wasted food is terrible. They cook for the rushes of noon and evening meals and when the food sit so long under the heat lamps it has to be thrown out. It would be nice if it could be given to the needy, but like frontier said about this litiginous age, you can't give it away.
I do think the government could design a program that you could turn in unused medicines and they could check it out and then offer it to those who need it with a valid prescription.
A number of states do have programs in place for donating unused drugs -- this is a growing enterprise. Others have safe places to deposit for proper disposal by officials. Two concerns aside from the vast waste are environmental damage and drugs getting into the hands of teens and others who misuse/abuse them. This all differs state by state -- check with your pharmacist who should be up on these things. Don't take the first 'no' answer -- research further. Get informed.
You did the right thing & I understand why it would break your heart...
I return unused drugs to my husband's doctor. He works at a free clinic for elders and he uses the drugs as samples. One way we could cut costs for medicines is if the dr. would provide a sample for a couple weeks. I am afraid to toss drugs into the landfills - they should be incinerated but I don't have a furnace here.
I, agree with feeling lousy about disgarding meds. I have High Blood Pressure and was trying to get in regulated for 8 months. Every three weeks the MD would change my meds and I threw out the old ones using the dirty kitty litter method. Too bad they can't be passed on the seniors who are desperate for meds and have so little money.
Someone had suggested a safe way to dispose of them would be to take them to a hospital or clinic for hazardous waste disposal??? The kitty litter worked just fine. The nurses at my MIL's bedside disposed them with wet coffee grounds in a plastic bag.
A local pharmacist told me to flush old prescriptions down the toilet.
first off, please dont flush them down the toilet. they eventually make their way into the waterways. they have found massive meds in the waterways, most of which were hormones. yes the pill.
some nursing homes will take the meds. in some states. the best bet is what hg did. give them to the dr. that prescribed them. if he cant give them to others, he knows how to dispose of them properly.
my mother was taking an iv med, that cost $5000.00 a day. we had cases of the stuff. since a shipment had arrived just the day before. no one wanted it. we gave it back to the dr. who prescribed it. win win.
