Fall Cleaning: Your Medicine Cabinet

By Ochsner Medical Center
    With so many things to add to your spring cleaning list, why not make your medicine cabinet a priority this fall? National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is September 27, 2014, and Ochsner Medical Center – Baton Rouge will be participating from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.at Physician Plaza 1 next door to the hospital.
    Why is it important to properly dispose of your unused or expired medications? Medication can harm someone it is not prescribed for, including children and animals. Disposing of old medications reduces the risk of unintentional use, overdose, and illegal abuse. Plus, a wide range of prescription drugs have been detected in lakes, streams, rivers, and drinking water supplies due to flushing them down the toilet.
    “The best way to get rid of unused or expired medications is to take them to a medication drop-off location,” said Andy Boothe, Director of Pharmacy, Ochsner Baton Rouge. “People typically don’t look through their medicine cabinet until they need something, oftentimes to realize the drug they are looking for is expired and they need to get rid of it. People may also need to dispose of drugs of deceased family members. This upcoming event provides people with a safe, anonymous, easy way to dispose of drugs, while preventing potential misuse or harm from leaving these drugs sitting in the cabinet.”
    Once you have cleaned expired or unused products out of your medicine cabinet, be sure you have needed supplies and medications. Everyone takes a little spill here or there or gets a cough or diarrhea and then stumbles around the bathroom trying to find bandages or cough medicine or other medication. That’s why you should have these medicine cabinet essentials always on hand:
Hydrogen peroxide for wounds
Antibiotic ointment
Adhesive bandages and sterile gauze pads
An oral thermometer
Pain reliever, such as acetaminophen, for headaches and/or other aches and pains
Sunscreen
Antidiarrhea medication
Cough medicine
Cold/flu medicine