From the Archives – How to Safely Dispose of Expired Medications

Thank you to Mira Patel, Healthy Living Pharmacist, for contributing to this post.

When medications have expired or are no longer needed, the question becomes, “How do I safely get rid of these drugs?” There are a few ways to dispose of medications that are safe for people, animals, and the environment.

Medication Disposal Options

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sets up collection sites nationwide for National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The goals of this day is to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.

Local law enforcement and waste management authorities can also take expired/unused medications back. There are collectors registered with the DEA that can help with unneeded drugs. Visit the Diversion Control Division website of the Drug Enforcement Administration or call (800)882-9539 for more information.

Home Disposal

If none of the above options are available, consumers can also dispose of medications in their household trash when these guidelines are followed:

1. Mix pills with dirt, kitty litter, or used coffee grounds and put it in a sealed plastic bag. (Do not crush tablets and capsules.)
2. Throw the plastic bag in household trash.
3. Before throwing away empty pill bottles, make sure to remove all personal and doctor’s information from the bottle.

There are some medications that are very harmful and can be fatal with even one dose if ingested by someone other than the patient who was prescribed that specific medication. For these meds, it is crucial to find a take-back program or DEA collector. If that is not possible, one may safely flush the medication down the toilet or in a sink (as a last resort). Find a list of these drugs here.

WE LOVE TO HELP.

• Reach us through online chat at myhlms.com.
• Call us @ (866)779-8512 or text us @ (248)577-9903.
• Sign up for the Healthy Living blog at myhlms.com/subscribe.
• Check out our new online store at myhlms.com/shop for accessories and over-the-counter medications.
• Visit myhlms.com/providers to electronically complete and sign prescriptions for patients.

We Appreciate Sherece, Our Healthy Living Player of the Week!

Healthy Living Medical Supply continues to celebrate employee heroes this fall with our third Player of the Week.

Sherece was nominated to be Player of the Week by a Healthy Living team member who wrote: “Sherece always gives our customers high-quality care and does an excellent job of making sure our Brightree prescriptions for patients are up to date - this helps us ensure that customers never miss a delivery due to an expired script. Sherece has also helped out in our pharmacy over the past couple of weeks to help satisfy the increase in prescription enrollment for non-diabetes related medications.” 

WE’RE HERE TO HELP!

• Call us @ (866)779-8512 or text us @ (248)577-9903.
• Reach us through online chat at myhlms.com.
• Sign up for the Healthy Living blog at myhlms.com/subscribe.
• Check out our new online store at myhlms.com/shop for accessories and over-the-counter medications.
• Visit myhlms.com/providers to electronically complete and sign prescriptions for patients.

Living with Allergies: Finding the Smoothest Back-to-School Path

Meet amazing Margie! She’s a very busy mom of three, dear sister, friend, daughter, wife. Her life is very full, and it’s time for two of her little ones to go back to school. In fact, it’s a big year. Margie’s oldest started kindergarten today!

Preparations, hopes, plans, wonderings …allergies and prescriptions? Yes, Margie’s son has to be extra careful at school since he lives with nut allergies and asthma. Margie needed to work with the elementary school staff to make sure everyone would be aware of her son’s allergies to avoid any issues and be ready if a reaction should occur. So much to coordinate!

Thorough Emergency Preparations Are Essential

The elementary school needed:

1.     Specific forms for prescription medications filled out and signed by the doctor

2.     A certain amount of the prescribed medications (for example: (1) 2-pack of EpiPens with the original labels and box, with the dosage indicated)

Until the forms and medications were filled out completely and in order correctly, Margie’s son couldn’t start school.

Obtaining the paperwork requires:

1.     Getting an appointment and going to the allergist

·       Checking vitals and height

·       Answering questions about any recent food allergy or asthmatic reactions and about how they are affecting daily life

·       Testing lung capacity

2.     Asking the doctor to fill out the forms required by the school district

Margie needed to give her son’s doctor plenty of notice to fill out his forms in time for school.

Choose a Pharmacy That Will Take Time to Help

Margie went to Healthy Living Pharmacy for the medications prescribed to her son:

·       EpiPens

·       Benadryl

·       Emergency albuterol inhaler

·       Spacer for inhaler

Margie worked with Mira (pharmacist) and Grace (pharmacy tech) and said, “They’re wonderful!”

Healthy Living Pharmacy made it easy:

1.     The doctor sent the scripts directly to Healthy Living.

2.     Grace communicated with Margie to confirm the order.

3.     Healthy Living was flexible about how Margie got her driver’s license and insurance card to them – photo & text, photo & email, or in person.

4.     The order contained specialty items, and some were not in stock, so Margie’s order was ready the next day. Healthy Living could ship it to her home or she could pick it up, and Margie chose pick-up.

5.     The pharmacist put the EpiPens on auto-refill.

6.     Mira and Grace answered her questions right away – they were knowledgeable and accessible.

Margie expressed, “It can be so overwhelming to deal with allergies, and Healthy Living Pharmacy made it simple.” So Margie and her family are now ready for the school year and to enjoy to the exciting days ahead. After getting all of her supplies from Healthy Living, Margie said, “We really felt prepared for back-to-school time.”

We are so happy we could help!

• Reach us through online chat at myhlms.com.
• Text us @ (248)577-9903.
• Check out our new online store at myhlms.com/shop for accessories and over-the-counter medications.
• Visit myhlms.com/providers to electronically complete and sign prescriptions for patients.

Margie gave EpiPens to the school to store for her son, in case he has an allergic reaction.

Spotlight on Mira, Star Healthy Living Pharmacist

Today, we are happy to introduce Mira, one of our pharmacists at Healthy Living Medical Supply. Mira has been a pharmacist since 2009, and it seems like she has worked in just about every setting a pharmacist could find: a hospital, a big chain store, an independent setting, and an ambulatory care setting. With all of this behind her, Mira has found that what really makes Healthy Living unique is that it’s an environment where she has time to focus on patients, dedicating more time to specific situations when needed, without so many distractions that she can’t work patiently with patients.

A big part of Mira’s job is keeping the lines of communication open between doctors, patients, and our pharmacy – ensuring consistent refills, understanding tapering orders, and monitoring dose changes. Communication is crucial, and Mira is constantly on the phone talking with patients or doctors’ offices. As Mira says so well, “You can’t put problems away. You have to be proactive, focus on communication, keep everyone informed – doing the job thoroughly, and doing it well.”

Mira’s pharmacy team supports each other and includes Joe (fellow pharmacist), Grace (pharmacy tech), and Bryan and Alex (inhalation medication experts). The team gets questions each day from patients about specific drugs and side effects, dosing, remaining refills, or what to expect if the drug looks different or it’s the first time they are taking it. The pharmacy team also help patients navigate their insurance questions.

We had a chance to ask Mira what she likes best about working at Healthy Living Medical Supply.  She loves the opportunity to collaborate with different departments within Healthy Living and within the medical community. Mira explained that in this environment, she can see the big picture to make smoother transitions for patients, do more thorough medication and supplies reconciliations, and also solve different challenges every day. She is also very grateful for the community of people she works with at Healthy Living, and we are surely thankful for her!

We’re here to help!

• Contact our pharmacy at (866)779-8512, option 4.

• Reach us through online chat at myhlms.com.

• Text us @ (248)577-9903.

• Check out our new online store at myhlms.com/shop for accessories and over-the-counter medications.

• Visit myhlms.com/providers to electronically complete and sign prescriptions for patients.