FDA: Flush Certain Unused Medications
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- CHILDREN'S HEALTH
- DRUG TOXICITY
- ENVIRONMENT
- MEDICAL WASTE DISPOSAL
- PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS
- PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
- SAFETY MANAGEMENT
- UNITED STATES FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
- WATER SUPPLY
Because of safety concerns, certain prescribed medications no longer needed for treatment, including several opioids and other controlled substances, should be flushed down the sink or toilet, said US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials during the launching of a new consumer Web site.
This Web site, http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/EnsuringSafeUseofMedicine/SafeDisposalofMedicines/ucm186187, currently lists 26 medications that consumers should dispose of by flushing. The list will be updated as needed based on future safety risk evaluations of other medications by the FDA.
At an October 14 press briefing announcing the Web site launch, Douglas Throckmorton, MD, deputy director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the agency hopes to help patients avoid unintended consequences. “The focus today is on a very small group of drugs [that pose] imminent or immediate harm to children and pets in a single dose—products we believe that are so dangerous, they should be removed from …
