Now is the time to get rid of all those old unwanted medicines which you have stored at home and no longer require.
McGlashen Pharmacy is calling for people to ‘spring-clean’ their old medicines by taking them in for proper disposal.
“We collect old medications so that they are not lying around their homes,” says Andrew McGlashen, pharmacist and managing director of McGlashen Pharmacy.
Returning unnecessary medicine to be discarded is a safety measure. “All these medications could cause issues if they were taken past their expiry dates or for wrong purposes,” he says.
Unfortunately, these medicines cannot be recycled and it’s essential for the environment to discard them correctly. “Disposing of old or unused medications in general waste is not a good idea. We can ensure that the medication is destroyed correctly and there are specific procedures for that.” Andrew says.
Most of the medication taken in to be destroyed has expired, but not all of it. “People can bring pills, syringes and other medical accessories. Some people start a three-month supply of medication, use it for a week and realise that does not agree with them or it is not having the desired effect and stop taking it. Leaving it lying around home is a safety risk.”
“To avoid wasting medicine that you don’t want, ask your doctor for ‘trial dispensing’. It allows him to prescribe for a couple of weeks and then if it works, the patient can collect the remainder of the medication, with no extra cost. This was established to help reduce the surplus waste estimated to be over 40 million dollars of pharmaceuticals every year. “Medicines disposal also encourages more conversations around medication and its use – Pharmacy is after all your medication specialists.”