More than 4 billion prescriptions are written every year in the United States and about 40 percent of these drugs aren’t taken according to directions.
Failing to finish a prescription medication is one of the most common issues, with Americans leaving 200 million pounds of medication unused annually.
In some cases, patients may stop taking a drug once they feel better. Other situations leave caretakers with significant amounts of excess medications.
These unused medications can pose a number of problems. If left in the medicine cabinet, they can cause accidents with young children or may be abused by teens and adults. The problem is not as uncommon as some might think — nearly 7 million Americans over the age of 12 report having used prescription drugs in the past month for nonmedical reasons and the numbers are increasing.
In light of these figures, many people are seeing the importance of disposing of unused medication. Even when motivated to do so, however, people can be faced with limited options for getting rid of medications responsibly. In the past, some sources recommended flushing unused medicine down the toilet, but recent evidence shows trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in waterways and drinking water supplies.
Throwing medication in the trash does not effectively neutralize the potentially harmful substances in the drugs. Mail-in disposal products also are available, but only for a limited range of substances, and they also require labels to be left on the medications, raising privacy concerns.
Finally, some communities organize collection programs, but these can be inconvenient to access due to limited hours and the necessity for law enforcement to be present.
A new product recently has been introduced to meet the need: a pouch with a specially designed inner packet of a drug-deactivating ingredient. Users simply place their medications into the pouch, add a small amount of water, seal it and dispose of the pouch in the household trash.
A proprietary activated carbon system in the pouch neutralizes the medication, chemically deactivating the drug. After disposal, the pouch continues to work by keeping the drugs chemically bound so they cannot leach into groundwater from the landfill.
The Medsaway Medication Disposal System — an affordable and convenient way to increase the safety of your home and dispose of medications responsibly — is available in drugstores.