Consumers Should Dispose of Unused Medications to Prevent Theft and Accidental Ingestion, FDA Advises

Consumers and caregivers should remove expired, unwanted, or unused medicines from their homes as quickly as possible to reduce the chance that the drugs may be stolen or accidentally ingested, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns. The agency has provided new resources on its website including an overview of the following three primary methods of medication disposal:

• transferring unused medication to authorized collectors for disposal,
• disposal in household trash, and
• flushing certain medications.

To help consumers find local medication disposal programs NABP provides an interactive disposal site locator tool on the AWAR_XE website. In addition, the AWAR_XE site provides detailed information about how to safely dispose of unwanted prescription drugs in the home when a local take-back program is not available.