Rx for Medicine Disposal
By Laurie Udesky and David Dudley
CONSUMER HEALTH INTERACTIVE
Each year Americans buy 6 percent more medication than the year before, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office. In 2007, Americans spent $286.5 billion on prescription drugs alone. If you took a quick look in your medicine cabinet, you'd probably find several bottles of unused or expired drugs. Experts say the old method of flushing medications down the toilet or drain or throwing them in the trash is hurting our environment, polluting our waterways for wildlife, and even contaminating our drinking water. Short of stockpiling them at home, what should you do with your old medicines? Click here or on the picture to start. Multimedia Team
Director and producer: Laurie Udesky
Editor: Laurie Udesky
Video production: Paige Bierma, David Dudley, and Laurie Udesky
Additional camera work: Paola Laverde
Senior editor and production supervisor: Paige Bierma
Flash production: David Dudley and Eric Turner
Flash design and animation: David Dudley
Photo credits: Getty images, Shutterstock
Additional video footage: Getty images
Web production: Deepi Brar
Executive producer: Diana Hembree Troubleshooting
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Further Resources Coalition for Safe Community Needle Disposal http://www.safeneedledisposal.org Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov Health Care Without Harm http://www.noharm.org Teleosis Institute http://www.teleosis.org To find solid and hazardous waste disposal information in your state go to: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/stateweb.htm
References
Interview with Joel Kreisberg, executive director of the Teleosis Institute.
Interview with Robert Hunn, Safety Officer, University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.
Interview with Rick Vasquez, owner and CEO of Integrated Waste Control, Hayward, California.
Interview with Bruce Macler, drinking water toxicologist, Environmental Protection Agency.
Interview with Jen Jackson, Pollution Prevention, East Bay Municipal Utility District, California.
Interview with Blamoh Twegbe, staff pharmacist, Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, Oakland, California.
United States General Accounting Office: Prescription Drugs, FDA Oversight of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Has Limitations. October 2002.
Generic Pharmaceutical Association: Statistics. Last updated 2008. http://www.gphaonline.org
EPA: Personal Care and Pharmaceutical Products: Frequently Asked Questions. Last updated, Dec. 14, 2007
Reviewed by Michael Potter, MD, an attending physician and associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who is board certified in family practice.
Our reviewers are members of Consumer Health Interactive's medical advisory board.
To learn more about our writers and editors, click here.
First published June 20, 2008
Copyright © 2008 Consumer Health Interactive
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