Throw Away Your Unused Prescription Drugs

Teen prescription drug abuse is a growing problem and research shows one of the main sources from which teens get those drugs is the medicine cabinets of their own families or friends.

If you have had surgery or an injury and were prescribed pain pills, you need to throw away any unused pills to make sure that your children and their friends do not get their hands on them. But, you need to make sure that you dispose of them properly.

Many of today's popular pain medications are on the list of drugs that should be flushed down the drain or toilet to properly dispose of them (see list below). But do not flush any medications unless the label or patient information specifically says to flush them.

Proper Disposal of Unused Drugs

To get rid of drugs not labeled to be flushed, follow these steps, recommended by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy:

• Take your prescription drugs out of their original containers.

• Mix drugs with an undesirable substance, such as cat litter or used coffee grounds.

• Put the mixture into a disposable container with a lid, such as an empty margarine tub, or into a sealable bag.

• Conceal or remove any personal information, including prescription number, on the empty containers by covering it with black permanent marker or duct tape, or by scratching it off.

• Place the sealed container with the mixture, and the empty drug containers, in the trash.

Prescription Drugs You Can Flush

The following medications (and their active ingredients) are those that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration recommends that you flush to get rid of right away to prevent danger to people and pets:

• Actiq, oral transmucosal lozenge, Fentanyl Citrate
  
• Avinza, capsules (extended release), Morphine Sulfate
• Daytrana, transdermal patch system, Methylphenidate
  
• Demerol, tablets, Meperidine Hydrochloride
  
• Demerol, oral solution, Meperidine Hydrochloride
  
• Diastat/Diastat AcuDial, rectal gel, Diazepam
  
• Dilaudid, tablets, Hydromorphone Hydrochloride
  
• Dilaudid, oral liquid, Hydromorphone Hydrochloride
  
• Dolophine Hydrochloride, tablets, Methadone Hydrochloride
  
• Duragesic, patch (extended release), Fentanyl
  
• Embeda, capsules (extended release), Morphine Sulfate; Naltrexone Hydrochloride
  
• Exalgo, tablets (extended release), Hydromorphone Hydrochloride
  
• Fentora, tablets (buccal), Fentanyl Citrate
  
• Kadian, capsules (extended release), Morphine Sulfate
  
• Methadone Hydrochloride, oral solution, Methadone Hydrochloride
  
• Methadose, tablets, Methadone Hydrochloride
  
• Morphine Sulfate, tablets (immediate release), Morphine Sulfate
  
• Morphine Sulfate, oral solution, Morphine Sulfate
  
• MS Contin, tablets (extended release), Morphine Sulfate
  
• Onsolis, soluble film (buccal), Fentanyl Citrate
  
• Opana, tablets (immediate release), Oxymorphone Hydrochloride
  
• Opana ER, tablets (extended release), Oxymorphone Hydrochloride
  
• Oramorph SR, tablets (sustained release), Morphine Sulfate
  
• Oxycontin, tablets (extended release), Oxycodone Hydrochloride
  
• Percocet, tablets, Acetaminophen; Oxycodone Hydrochloride
  
• Percodan, tablets, Aspirin; Oxycodone Hydrochloride
  
• Xyrem, oral solution, Sodium Oxybate

Some communities have a drug take-back program that collects drugs at a central location for proper disposal. Check with your local government waste disposal agency to find out if there is such a program in your area.

^Sources:

^{Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Proper Disposal of Prescription Drugs." October 2009.}

^{U.S. Food & Drug Administration. " Disposal by Flushing of Certain Unused Medicines: What You Should Know." March 2010.}