Medicine Cabinet Cleanup

Does your spring cleaning include cleaning out your medicine cabinet? If not, you could be putting yourself and your family at risk. Unused medicines left in a medicine cabinet can lead to misuse and abuse, yet more than half of all Canadian families do not regularly check the expiry dates of their medications. Medications that have passed their expiry dates can be ineffective or even toxic.

Getting Started

Cleaning out your medicine cabinet on a regular basis is important, but it is just as important to do it properly. According to Statistics Canada, 40% of Canadians do not dispose of their unused medications in a proper manner. This has led to traces of these products ending up in the water we drink and the soil our food is grown in and our children play in. You should not toss your unused medicines in the trash, pour them down the sink, or flush them down the toilet. So what should you do? Bring your unused medicines—prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs, supplements, and natural health products—to your pharmacy for proper disposal. At London Drugs we safely incinerate all returned medications to prevent them from contaminating the environment.

Here are some guidelines on how to return your medicines to us:

• If you can recycle the containers and lids for your solid dosage forms (tablets, capsules, lozenges, etc.), you can put all of the medicines in one sealed plastic bag and bring that to your London Drugs pharmacy. Remember to remove your personal information from the containers by removing the labels or blackening out the details before you recycle them.

• Keep liquid medications in their original bottles, but remove your personal information before bringing the medicine to the pharmacy for disposal.

• Tubes of creams and ointments, as well as inhaler cartridges, can be returned in their original containers with the personal information removed. You can also return needles, syringes, and lancets as long as they are in a sealed medically-approved sharps disposal container. These containers are available for purchase at the pharmacy, or are provided free with the purchase of 100 BD needles or syringes. More information on our returns policy is available here.

Medication Storage

Before returning your medicines to your medicine cabinet, review the storage instructions. A bathroom medicine cabinet is not appropriate for all products—some drugs need to be refrigerated, some are sensitive to moisture, and others should be kept in a cool, dark place. A kitchen or bedroom drawer may be more appropriate. Medicines that are not stored properly can become ineffective. Your pharmacist can advise you about special storage requirements for any medication, if it is not listed on the packaging.

Keep all of your medications in their original packaging. Don’t mix different medications together in a single container or store them in unlabeled containers. If you have children, make sure that all medicines are kept where they cannot access them. Ask your London Drugs pharmacist to dispense your prescriptions in childproof containers. If you are not physically able to open childproof containers, the pharmacy can provide easy open lids, but be extra careful to store these containers out of sight and reach of children.

If you have any questions about the proper storage or disposal of your medications, your London Drugs pharmacists will be happy to advise you.

August is National Drug Drop-Off Month: Tips for Cleaning Out Your Medicine Cabinet

Many prescription drugs that have a high potential for misuse come from the medicine cabinets of friends and families

If it’s been a while since you’ve cleaned out your medicine cabinet, now is the time to dig out those old pill bottles. In support of the second annual National Drug Drop-Off Month, this August London Drugs is joining Drug Free Kids Canada to encourage all Canadians to secure their prescriptions and return all unused or expired medications to pharmacies.

As communities throughout the province grapple with the devastating effects of the opioid crisis, this month-long campaign highlights the problematic use of prescription drugs by teens and emphasizes the need for safe disposal to reduce the instances of abuse, overdoses as well as accidental poisonings.

While our pharmacy accepts unused medication for safe disposal every day, National Drug Drop-Off Month reminds us that everyone has a role to play in reducing the potential harms of prescription drugs on our communities.

Cleaning out your medicine cabinet and safely disposing of unused and expired medications at the pharmacy is a simple way we can all help reduce the potential harms of prescription drugs. Many prescription medications, over-the-counter products and health supplements remain in medicine cabinets and kitchen drawers long after their expiry date, while others are simply unused. Properly disposing of these drugs as well as medical sharps is important not only for the safety of loved ones but also for the environment.

 Follow these helpful tips for cleaning out your medicine cabinet

 

Many prescription drugs that have a high potential for misuse come from the medicine cabinets of friends and families. Whether intentional or accidental, ingestion of these prescription drugs is a very real risk to the health of our communities. Once you’ve collected your unused and expired medications, find your closest London Drugs location to drop off them off for safe disposal.

  1. Check expiration dates and remove products that are expired.
    Pharmacists recommend cleaning out your medicine cabinet annually since virtually every medication – from vitamins, to prescription medications, to over-the-counter products – have expiry dates. Keep in mind that some products can expire before the date on the label once opened. When in doubt, ask a pharmacist.
  2. Remove any medication not in its original container.
    If you can’t remember what a medication is for or who it was for, get rid of it. As much as possible, keep your medication in its original packaging. Mixing different medications in the same container or storing them outside of their original packaging increases the likelihood of accidental overdose or poisonings.
  3. Place unwanted and expired drugs in a clear plastic bag.
    Medications in blister packs and forms of liquid and cream medications can also be included in the plastic bag.
  4. Drop off your unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medications at any London Drugs.
    These medications will be safely incinerated, preventing them from being abused, entering landfills or the sewer system. London Drugs also recycles medication bottles, lids and medication vials. Please be sure to remove personal information by taking off the label.
  5. You can bring your medications to the pharmacy year round.
    Unwanted and expired drugs are accepted every day at any London Drugs location. Instead of flushing pills or throwing medical sharps in the garbage, bring them to the pharmacy for safe disposal. Approved sharps containers can also be purchased to dispose of medical sharps.

Many prescription drugs that have a high potential for misuse come from the medicine cabinets of friends and families. Whether intentional or accidental, ingestion of these prescription drugs is a very real risk to the health of our communities. Once you’ve collected your unused and expired medications, find your closest London Drugs location to drop off them off for safe disposal.