Filed by Michael Cross in Feature, Health, Local News, News.
January 21, 2010
 

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With the start of the New Year, doctors and pharmacists are urging people to go their medicine cabinets to remove any expired or unused medications.

The expired drugs might not help in battling illness, it could be dangerous to take and it could even young ones in the family.

74-year-old Jack Easterly pulls a small plastic bucket out of his kitchen cabinet which holds the pills he currently takes.

Along with over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, Jack also takes Lotrel for blood pressure, Doxcycline for Rosacea and Ranitidine for gurd.

While none of the prescription drugs have expiration dates, he says none are more than a month old.

“They’re only essentially a one month script. I’m renewing them every month. There’s nothing here that’s old. I’m not going to run across any old meds in this where i keep my current meds.”

But, many Oklahomans do have expired drugs in their medicine cabinets.

The biggest concern comes from the medication losing its potency.
Doctor Robert Rader at Saint Anthony’s Hospital in Oklahoma City says less potent drugs such as painkillers can lead to dangerous situations.

“You could end up taking additional medications thinking you need something stronger. And there’s no guarantee that the next pill you take is going to have degraded the same amount of potency. So, you could end up getting an accidental overdose.”

The expired medication could also have an effect when it interacts with other drugs a patient is taking.

And, in some instances it could be toxic.

“One classic example is the antibiotic, tetracycline. Tetracycline degrades into a compound that’s actually poisonous and can cause serious illness and death. So, there are some instances where it can be very dangerous.”

Doctor Rader says a general rule of thumb is to get rid of the medication after a year of it being dispensed.

So, how do you dispose of old or expired drugs?

Jack faced this problem a few years back.

“My wife who died in 2005 from cancer had a ton of medications after she died. I flushed them. It was shortly after that i read or heard, gee you shouldn’t have done that, but you can’t undo it.”

While, the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy doesn’t recommend flushing meds down the toilet, it can be done with controlled substances like pain and nerve medication.

But, Chief Compliance Officer Cindy Hamilton provides a better solution.

“Mix those drugs with either kitty litter or coffee grounds and put them in a bag or an empty plastic container like a milk carton and just throw them away.”

A pharmacist won’t take back prescriptions because it would give a sense of impropriety that the drugs are being redistributed.

Medications can also be taken to hazardous waste sites and some law enforcement agencies have programs to relieve people of the drugs.

Hamilton says getting rid of prescription is a good practice because they could fall into young hands.

“Teenagers that are getting into medicine cabinets and having what we call “Pharm” parties. They just put them all in a bowl and mix them with alcohol. It’s very dangerous; Or, accidental poisonings with young children.”

The Pharmacy Board also recommends blacking out or ripping off labels on vials to prevent others from getting refills at the pharmacy.