Patients offered safe drug disposal

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 10 (UPI) -- More than 4 billion U.S. prescriptions are written annually and up to 40 percent of drugs dispensed outside of hospitals aren't taken, pharmacists say.

Officials at the National Community Pharmacists Association say this 40 percent of prescriptions not taken by patients generates some 200 million pounds of unused pharmaceuticals each year.

Robert J. Greenwood, president of the NCPA and a pharmacy owner in Waterloo, Iowa, says unused medications are a contributor to accidental poisonings and deaths, which in a recent six-year period increased by 80 percent.

Greenwood and other pharmacists are encouraging patients to properly dispose of expired or unwanted medications -- other than controlled substances -- at a local independent community pharmacy as part of its "Dispose My Meds program."

A recent survey found 100 percent of patients who responded said they were satisfied with the Dispose My Meds program, many of whom had kept unwanted medications in their homes for years or even decades, Greenwood says.

"We encourage patients to talk to their community pharmacists about medication safety and how to dispose of medications properly when they go unused or expire," Greenwood says in a statement.

DisposeMyMeds.org helps consumers find participating pharmacies by city, state or ZIP code to dispose of unused medications, either with a postage-paid envelope or an onsite program where pharmaceuticals are collected and disposed of properly.