I heard somewhere that flushing pills

LPN1974, LPN · Mar 12, 2005

down the toilet is no longer acceptable practice. What would be a good, safe, legal alternative?

I like to crush mine and wash it down the sink.

Why is putting it down the toilet no longer acceptable?

Are they finding pills at the sewer plant??

Somebody been taking them??? OMG

What a way to get drugs.

tmiller027 · Mar 12, 2005

Those plastic pill bottles dont break down...they'd last like 1000 years in a landfill.

I think its called the media stirring up a frenzy...they do that here about once a year too.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Mar 12, 2005

I suppose you could grind 'em up in the garbage disposal and rinse it all down the drain, but that would probably result in the same problems that flushing them down the john creates, and I think that's the concern of the people who make stupid rules like this. So we can't poison the fish........what ARE we supposed to do, throw them in the garbage and risk having some little kid (or not so little ADULT) find them and do God knows what with them? :uhoh3:

talaxandra · Mar 12, 2005

What kinds of drugs are you talking about? One-off meds (eg refused by patient, or punched out of a blister pack by accident) we chuck in a sharps bin, but all other unused meds go to pharmacy for disposal.

LPNtoBSNstudent, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2005

I also put them in the sharps container if the patient refuses or if they get dropped, etc. But, I *have* put them in the toilet and flushed. I didn't realize that wasn't ok.

But where the heck do all the destroys go when the nurse and pharmacist get rid of them, specifically in a nursing home.

allamericangirl · Mar 12, 2005

So how many pills do you guys really think it would take to pollute a 12'x20'x7' body of water? Will we have to go to all biodegradable pills? Come on now! Think hard! :banghead: :sofahider

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2005

I always though they did more good if swallowed with a cup of water lol :rotfl:

eflynnlpn · Mar 12, 2005

:balloons:

down the toilet is no longer acceptable practice. What would be a good, safe, legal alternative?

:balloons: I did not know you wern't supposed to flush pills!!! I used to work up the street, and if a pt. died, or the drug was dc'd the pharmacy would not take them back, and we flushed them once every two weeks or so.

purplemania, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2005

are you talking about home meds or meds given in a clinical setting? Our hospital nurses are encouraged to "waste" drugs into the sink that is in the medicine room. Who has time to go to the toilet???

Fiona59 · Mar 12, 2005

There has been recent research and media stories on the levels of hormones found in drinking water. They directed it back to the Birth control Pill.

I always used the sharps container and assumed everything got incinerated...

eflynnlpn · Mar 12, 2005

are you talking about home meds or meds given in a clinical setting? Our hospital nurses are encouraged to "waste" drugs into the sink that is in the medicine room. Who has time to go to the toilet???

Depends on where the toilet is. This is a small rural nsg home. The toilet was right there, as the med room was too small for two people, and all wasted drugs had to be witnessed by a second party.