Photo

Click on photo to enlarge

Metro Graphics

Mixing prescription drugs with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter, and putting them in impermeable, non-descript containers, such as empty cans or sealable bags, can help ensure the drugs are not diverted.

Photo

Click on photo to enlarge

Metro Graphics

In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey tested the water of 139 rivers in 30 states; 80 percent of streams sampled showed evidence of drugs, hormones, steroids and personal care products such as soaps and perfumes.

SENECA — It’s a familiar medicine cabinet tableau: translucent orange bottles with a few leftover pills inside and faded labels on the exterior. Yes, the outdated med junkyard.

Though seemingly as innocent as the dental floss they share shelf space with, unused prescription drugs can set up troubling scenarios. The drugs can be swiped for recreational use. Or they can be taken as intended by the patient again later, but after the medicine’s effects have diminished.

Oconee Medical Center (OMC) Director of Pharmacy Services Bill Stevenson worries about potential impacts on the elderly.

“Maybe they forget things and continue taking old prescription medication while they start taking something else. Now they’re over-medicating.”

Disposing of unused meds can also be problematic. In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey tested the water of 139 rivers in 30 states; 80 percent of streams sampled showed evidence of drugs, hormones, steroids and personal care products such as soaps and perfumes.

“It’s a big problem, and it’s only going to get worse,” Stevenson said. “There are so many more patients in the population, so many more medicines are being described and a lot of times they don’t all get used. There were 3.4 billion prescriptions dispensed in 2005. Say only 1 percent gets flushed. That’s still a lot of stuff.”

At this point, the risks (both to aquatic life and to humans) of long-term exposure to trace amounts of meds in the water system are unknown. However, concerns include a promotion of pathogenic resistance to antibiotics and disruption of endocrine systems by steroids.

In addition, flushed medicines can impact beneficial bacteria responsible for breaking down waste in the septic system or at a wastewater treatment plant. Since municipal treatment plants are not engineered for pharmaceutical removal, the substances are either only partially captured or pass through the process completely. These trace chemicals are subsequently released into lakes, rivers or ground water with the treated wastewater.

In addition, some drugs contain hazardous chemicals or even heavy metals, like mercury, used as a preservative.

The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) actually recommends flushing for disposal of some prescription drugs, including OxyContin and Percocet (see accompanying box for more details). When disposing of meds in the trash, the ONDCP recommends mixing them with an undesirable substance — such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter — to keep animals and children from ingesting the chemicals.

Yet, the likelihood of consumers following this involved and nasty protocol seems slim.

“I guarantee 80 percent of the people still flush (their unused medications),” Stevenson said. “But you have to be worried about putting drugs in trashcans.”

In years past, OMC disposed off unused medication with an in-house incinerator. However, the device was removed approximately 20 years ago due to environmental concerns regarding fumes produced during the process.

These days, OMC contracts disposal of unused medications through a company called EXP. Stevenson would like to see Oconee County establish consumer med take-up sites at its convenience centers.

“Certain states have implemented a return system,” he said. “In South Carolina, we should step up to the plate and be a leader. Even if disposed of in their bottles at a landfill, eventually those bottles are going to break down.”

OMC’s pharmacy services director since 1979, Stevenson said consumers should be especially careful when disposing of chemotherapy meds.

“Those things kill normal and healthy cells.”

Health is not the only commodity at stake. To prevent identity theft, consumers are advised to scratch their names off labels before discarding old prescription medicine containers.