Health Officials Launch Campaign of Safe Disposal of Prescription Drugs

Bottle and tubes of prescription drugs on a white table

Health officials are encouraging people to safely dispose of unused prescription drugs

(Mirror Daily, United States) – The opioid crisis has shaken United States, with many overdose cases occurring accidentally. Therefore, the American Medical Associated has decided to take action against it, encouraging people to safely dispose of unused prescription drugs. This way, they can prevent children from accidentally ingesting them, or other people from abusing them.

It’s not safe to leave prescription drugs unsupervised

Many children often end up finding opioid prescription drugs thrown away around the house, and die after ingesting them. This adds to the already critical situation of opioids in the US, as their death toll has already reached alarming numbers. Therefore, medical officials have decided to launch the campaign Don’t Rush to Flush.

On Saturday, Americans celebrated the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. This was the perfect occasion to launch their campaign, where people were informed on how they can safely dispose of their unused prescription drugs, and encouraged to do so in the future.

You can always get rid of the medicine in a safe way

First of all, people were advised to keep opioid drugs away from children and animals, as they could always mistake them from something else and ingest them. The best places are some locked drawers, away from their reach. When people no longer need prescription drugs, they can always take them to a special medical kiosk.

However, many pharmacies or medical facilities are not equipped with such kiosks, so people might be at a loss when trying to dispose of these drugs. Therefore, the launch of the Don’t Rush to Flush campaign coincided with the inauguration of police departments as safe places where people can take their medicine when they no longer need it.

Also, they can always call their local hospitals and police stations and ask them to open safe collecting points. This way, instead of storing the prescription drugs for a long period in their home, flushing them down the toilet, or risking poisoning their kids, people can get rid of them in a safe way.
Image Source: Flickr

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John Birks

John holds a diploma in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He covers the technology, social media, green business, eco-travel, politics, arts culture.