National Drug Take Back Day: A Great Time to Dispose of Prescription Medications Cluttering Your Cabinets

Douglas_ThrockmortanBy Douglas C. Throckmorton, M.D., 
Deputy Center Director for Regulatory Programs in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research

On Wednesday, April 27, FDA staff brought in their unwanted, unused, or expired prescription drugs to the FDA campus for safe disposal as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative. In past years, we’ve collected more than 200 pounds of unused medications that would have otherwise lingered in medicine chests and kitchen cabinets. FDA’s event is in advance of National Drug Take Back Day, marked on April 30.

Medicines no longer being used may pose grave and unnecessary dangers to families and the people visiting their homes. For example, in the last two decades, FDA has received more than 30 reports of accidental exposure to the powerful pain medication in fentanyl patches – most of them in children under two years old. Tragically, 12 of these incidents required hospitalization and another 12 were deadly. Drug Take Back programs are the preferred method for fentanyl patch disposal and frequent drug take back programs run by local communities are a big step toward preventing unnecessary deaths due to accidental medication exposure.

Another important effect of National Take Back Day is that it helps to divert medicines from entering the environment. We share the public’s concerns regarding the potential environmental impact of disposing unused medicines in household trash, or by flushing. We are working with other agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to better understand the human health and ecological risks from medicines in our water and have a shared overall goal of reducing medicine levels in our water.

FDA has strongly supported work to expand the availability of take back programs for several years. We will continue to work with manufacturers to develop new formulations with reduced risk for accidental harm and with our federal partners to develop alternative, safe disposal systems. We look forward to a time when effective disposal alternatives are more widely available.

The importance is underscored when you think about the epidemic this country is facing with opioid medications. Many people who misuse medications, such as opioids, get their first dose by using medications prescribed to other people. FDA is deeply concerned about the growing epidemic of abuse, misuse, dependence, and overdose of opioids in the United States. In response to this crisis, FDA has developed a comprehensive action plan to take concrete steps toward reducing the impact of opioid abuse on American families and communities.

So if your prescription medications have expired or you are no longer taking them, Drug Take Back Day is a way to make sure they are disposed of properly. April 30 marks the eleventh nationwide opportunity since 2010 for Americans across the country to do what we’re doing at FDA this week and get rid of all unused drugs in the home. It’s simple and easy. Gather them up and take them to a disposal site near you. The service is available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s free and anonymous, no questions asked. Past drug take-back days have been highly successful. Cumulatively, previous events have collected well over 5 million pounds of unwanted, unused, or expired drugs.

Safe disposal of medicine is a year-round activity. FDA’s Disposal of Unused Medicine site offers valuable “do-it-yourself” safety information when there isn’t a take back site available.

Together, we can make difference.

This article was originally published on FDA Voice and is reprinted here with permission.