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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by tecknohed on December 20, 2006, at 15:24:38
Does anyone know if there exists any kind of medicine recycling scheme, either in the UK or anywhere else? Any charities perhapse?
It seems such a waste to just hand unused, in date & still-sealed meds back to a pharmacy for disposal!
NOTE: This is NOT an advert for my unused meds, so dont ask!
Posted by Phillipa on December 20, 2006, at 17:06:22
In reply to Recycling Medicines?, posted by tecknohed on December 20, 2006, at 15:24:38
Not that I know of as if you walk out of a pharmacy with a med you can't return it even if you didn't use it. That's the US. Love Phillipa
Posted by laima on December 20, 2006, at 17:34:08
In reply to Re: Recycling Medicines? » tecknohed, posted by Phillipa on December 20, 2006, at 17:06:22
I would suspect that sadly this could be considered unsafe due to possibility of someone tampering. It's a shame. Remember the poisoned Tylenol in the US some years ago?
Posted by blueberry1 on December 20, 2006, at 18:04:58
In reply to Recycling Medicines?, posted by tecknohed on December 20, 2006, at 15:24:38
I keep my meds for many years. I just zipper them up in a baggy in a shoe box. Years later, you just never know. Maybe someday I would want to retry something again, except in combo with something different than the first time.
I wouldn't know how to recycle them. I personally wouldn't even bother. I would just throw them in the trash can. There have been a few I knew darn sure I would never want to try again, and I tossed them in the trash.
I guess it would be cool if there was some system to donate meds to that could use them for people who can't afford them. If there is such a system, I am not familiar with it.
Posted by Phillipa on December 20, 2006, at 19:10:19
In reply to Re: Recycling Medicines?, posted by blueberry1 on December 20, 2006, at 18:04:58
Blueberry may I suggest to you flushing down the toilet so a child or other doesn't get ahold of something that could hurt them. Love Phillipa
Posted by Simcha on December 21, 2006, at 15:23:59
In reply to Re: Recycling Medicines? » blueberry1, posted by Phillipa on December 20, 2006, at 19:10:19
Phillipa,
It's actually illegal to flush meds down the toilet here in California. They've tested the water in the San Francisco Bay and have found levels of Prozac, other anti-depressants, opiates, blood pressure meds etc. These drugs have been found in drinking water here in California too. So, the environmental impact and the impact on humans is being questionned.
Here we are encouraged to bring them back to the pharmacy so that the pharmacy can properly dispose of them. Pharmacies in California take the unused drugs back and dispose of them in ways that do not allow the meds to seep into groundwater.
Simcha
Posted by tecknohed on December 21, 2006, at 18:19:50
In reply to Recycling Medicines?, posted by tecknohed on December 20, 2006, at 15:24:38
Thanks for replies.
When I say 'recycle', I do of course mean 'redistributing' them through some type of charity scheme, etc. The thought of recycling them like you would recycle paper or other waste is just silly, obviously.
Personaly, I dont see the problem with this if the medications are blister packed or bottles are tamper-resistant. After all, if I purchased a tub of vitamin pills from a health food shop and I wanted to return them, as long as they were unopened the shop would happily refund my money and the vitamins would go strait back on the shelf, right?
Shame.
Posted by jimmygold70 on December 22, 2006, at 4:19:27
In reply to Recycling Medicines?, posted by tecknohed on December 20, 2006, at 15:24:38
They use it in my area in jewish charity organization with much success. You might contact Jewish charity organizations around the place you live - but only ultraorthodox ones. The nice thing about ultraorthodox jews is that they don't give damn sh*t for country regulations - saving people is more important for them. And not orthodox - just ultraorthodox!
Jimmy
> Does anyone know if there exists any kind of medicine recycling scheme, either in the UK or anywhere else? Any charities perhapse?
>
> It seems such a waste to just hand unused, in date & still-sealed meds back to a pharmacy for disposal!
>
> NOTE: This is NOT an advert for my unused meds, so dont ask!
Posted by tecknohed on December 22, 2006, at 4:25:19
In reply to Re: Recycling Medicines?, posted by jimmygold70 on December 22, 2006, at 4:19:27
Posted by Quintal on December 22, 2006, at 9:11:26
In reply to Re: Recycling Medicines? » Phillipa, posted by Simcha on December 21, 2006, at 15:23:59
>It's actually illegal to flush meds down the toilet here in California. They've tested the water in the San Francisco Bay and have found levels of Prozac, other anti-depressants, opiates, blood >pressure meds etc. These drugs have been found in drinking water here in California too. So, the environmental impact and the impact on humans is being questionned.
>Here we are encouraged to bring them back to the pharmacy so that the pharmacy can properly dispose of them. Pharmacies in California take the unused drugs back and dispose of them in >ways that do not allow the meds to seep into groundwater.
>Simcha
Won't any active metabolites or drugs that are excreted unchanged in the urine or faeces also be present in those samples? How do they get around that problem? I also read that estrogens from the urine of women taking oral contraceptives are entering the drinking supply.Q
Posted by jimmygold70 on December 22, 2006, at 9:57:25
In reply to Re: Recycling Medicines? » Simcha, posted by Quintal on December 22, 2006, at 9:11:26
You know, where I leave which is quite far from California they used to flush it to the sea and now they recycle those water in some advanced ways and use them in agiculture. And I eat lots of vegetables... (-:
> >It's actually illegal to flush meds down the toilet here in California. They've tested the water in the San Francisco Bay and have found levels of Prozac, other anti-depressants, opiates, blood >pressure meds etc. These drugs have been found in drinking water here in California too. So, the environmental impact and the impact on humans is being questionned.
>
> >Here we are encouraged to bring them back to the pharmacy so that the pharmacy can properly dispose of them. Pharmacies in California take the unused drugs back and dispose of them in >ways that do not allow the meds to seep into groundwater.
>
> >Simcha
Posted by Simcha on December 22, 2006, at 14:34:33
In reply to Re: Recycling Medicines? » Simcha, posted by Quintal on December 22, 2006, at 9:11:26
Quintal,
I don't know about what they can do about the active metabolites that are excreted unchanged from people who take medication. All I know is about the law that prohibits disposal of medications via the toilet/sewer system.
Simcha
Posted by Phillipa on December 26, 2006, at 12:27:31
In reply to Re: Recycling Medicines? » Phillipa, posted by Simcha on December 21, 2006, at 15:23:59
Really? Maybe that's what's wrong with us all a miss masch of med in our drinking water? And other meds as well? Love Phillipa I seriously didn't know
Posted by Sebastian on December 29, 2006, at 22:08:04
In reply to Re: Recycling Medicines?, posted by tecknohed on December 21, 2006, at 18:19:50
I bought a thing of abilify in a sealed container from the pharmacy. later I returned it for a full refund, because the bottle was unopened.
This is the end of the thread.
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