Just when you think there are protocols in place for obvious things you realize...there aren't. I have been hanging on to two epi-pens that have been expired for a long time. When Kennedy was younger she had a case of hives and we didn't know what caused them (we still don't). We took her to the allergist and he prescribed two epi-pens while we were waiting for some test results to be on the safe side. I was sure there would be an easy answer about where to take these to properly dispose of them, I just hadn't gotten around to it. Well, today we grabbed them on our way out the door thinking we would take them back to the pharmacy we got them from (Walgreens). I can't believe what we encountered. Eric was the one taking them in and dealing with it but I'll explain what he encountered. First he went to Walgreens where they looked at him like he was crazy and said they can't take them back. They told him to try Haggen or Costco. We were really surprised but figured it was Walgreens after all and Haggen would take them for sure. When Eric went to Haggen he talked to three different people. They told him they wouldn't take them. One lady said, "don't you have a sharps container you can put them in?". Uh, NO! The head pharmacist came over to Eric and told him, "just put them in the garbage can". I was STUNNED!!! when he told me this. I felt nauseous about it. I'm no expert on the subject but I know enough to know that pharmaceuticals are bad for our environment - the ground, water and air around us all becomes contaminated by pharmaceuticals being thrown away or going down the drain. After that Eric took them to his doctor's office thinking they could at least put them in the sharps container and they also turned him away. They did, however, tell him they just had an office meeting on the topic and gave him a handout with some places to take them. An office meeting? Just now about this? I really can't believe there isn't a more substantial system in place for such a thing. I know people probably don't take the time to dispose of medications properly and they dump them down the drain but maybe this should be more of a public health concern since it effects us all.
Finally, we got the Haggen on Meridian to take them but they did say that they could not take them if they had been opened (I assume that means used or triggered). In that case I have no idea what you would do with them. For future reference the following places are drop-off locations for expired medications (although I'm wondering if they do anything more than throw them in the garbage themselves): Costco, Custom Rx Shoppe (Maple St.), Hoagland Pharmacy and the Haggen Pharmacies at Barkley, Meridian and Fairhaven. This is a new "program" (shockingly) so I don't know if it will even be around that long but you can also take toxics to the Toxic Waste site on airport drive for things that are not accepted items at the pharmacies such as thimerosol, non-alkaline batteries, mineral oil, aerosol cans, cleaning products, chemistry sets, hearing aides, digital thermometers and glucose meters.
The other issue of having unused pharmaceuticals in your home or in the garbage is that it can increase the risk to you, your family and your community by being obtained for illegal use by people seeking them out (breaking in to steal them or rummaging through the trash).
So much for my homework of not "expecting" things of people. And, if you are wondering why I think people should be educated on this topic given my recent post about what we should all know is because this is a public health concern, not to mention an environmental concern that effects ALL OF US. You can choose to learn and know about whatever you want but when it comes to matters of safety and public health there should be something more substantial in place and material should be provided by our public health providers to help educate people on the risks of improperly disposed pharmaceuticals.
http://www.nodrugsdownthedrain.org/medications.html
No comments:
Post a Comment