There are many reasons why you may not use your medications. Sometimes, your doctor may switch you to a new medication before you finish out the course, or maybe you’re only supposed to take the pills when needed and you just haven’t had to. Either way, it’s easy to leave those unused pills and capsules sitting in the medicine cabinet for way too long. You reach for your toothbrush everyday and notice the expiration date on the bottle getting closer and closer.
But what else can you do with those old, unused pills? There are options aside from letting them gather dust above the sink or unsafely tossing them in the trash can.
Proper Disposal is Important
It’s very important that you not just toss old pills in the trash without making sure it’s OK. A lot of medications can safely be thrown away, but many have specific instructions for disposing of them. Sometimes flushing these medications down the toilet is the best way to get rid of them.
The DEA actually organizes two National Prescription Drug Take Back Day events a year, once in the fall and once in the spring, where you can safely dispose of prescription medications, no questions asked.
In 2018, collection sites collected 914,236 pounds of prescription medications.
Why?
You may wonder why you need to safely dispose of your medications when you’re not using them. One of the major reasons would be that the accessibility of your prescriptions can lead to abuse. A lot of people abuse medications they find in the home. Accidental ingestion of these medications is also possible with prescriptions just sitting around in your medicine cabinet or in your trash can. Pets and children can get a hold of these pills which can be dangerous if ingested.
So, it’s for these reasons that the DEA organizes the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. You can find a local collection site by going to the Take Back Day website
Save on Your Prescriptions
For some of us, prescription medications are a part of our everyday lives. We need and use these prescriptions to keep us healthy and happy. To avoid unnecessary headaches, safe disposal and proper storage of your medications is important, as is finding your prescriptions for the best price. RxLess can help you find discounts for your prescriptions.
From Lipitor to Alli, you can find large savings for your prescriptions on our site. Simply search your medication and find the discounted price associated with your pharmacy.
