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Free Medicine Not Always Best Prescription

Tribune photo by VICTOR JUNCO

Despite good intentions, medications can't be donated.

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By IRENE MAHER

News Channel 8 Medical Editor

Published: May 30, 2008

It's a tempting offer: Free prescription medications for people who need them the most - the poor, the uninsured, the homeless. Families of people who have died from diabetes, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease call the Judeo Christian Health Clinic in Tampa every week hoping to donate leftover medications. Some bottles are full or hardly used and bear price tags in the hundreds of dollars. But the clinic's executive director, Kelly Nelson, must decline. "We can't use them," she says, "Unfortunately."

I get the calls, too. People want to donate perfectly good medications that were prescribed to a spouse, a parent or a relative and want to know whether there's a health care facility that can use them. They hate to throw them away and know the need for such medications is great. But if the packaging or container has been opened, facilities like the health clinic can't dispense them. And, legally, you aren't supposed to take another person's medication. "If they've been prescribed to someone else or if the seal has been broken, we can't use it," Nelson says.

Nelson also must refuse seemingly good, much-needed prescription medications when the drugs have expired. That's tough for everyone. Who doesn't hate to toss medications that were fine in April, but are suddenly off-limits in May? Who isn't holding on to an old bottle of antibiotics or pain pills, just in case?

But all the experts agree that when a medication has reached its expiration date, it must be discarded. Expiration dates are set by the manufacturer and are based on scientific testing. A drug's potency and effectiveness can't be guaranteed beyond the expiration date on the label or packaging.

According to clinical pharmacologist Richard Manny, expired drugs can be dangerous. "Taking a medication with low potency can allow a disease or medical condition to worsen," he says. Environmental factors can also be a factor. "Exposure to heat, moisture, and sunlight, all the things that we experience in Florida, can speed degradation of a drug," Manny says.

Nitroglycerin, commonly used in emergency situations to treat chest pain, is a good example of a drug that rapidly degrades after its expiration date and should be discarded. The antibiotic tetracycline can become toxic and cause damage to the heart if used beyond its expiration date.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy recommends removing expired medications from their original containers and mixing them with coffee grounds, sand, sawdust or kitty litter, plus cayenne pepper to ward off animals. Seal them in an empty can or zip-top bags, then place them in a bag of trash that you plan to put out for regular collection. Don't flush drugs down the toilet, unless directed to do so by the drug manufacturer. Although there is some disagreement over this practice, water safety officials argue that drugs can contaminate the community water supply.

By far, the best way to dispose of medications is to watch for a pharmaceutical take-back program.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office sponsors several Pill Drop events each year. Citizens can bring their expired medications to a designated location where they go into locked containers and are disposed of by law enforcement officials, usually by incineration. Dan Dede, a corporal with the Pasco Sheriff's Citizen Support Services, says people bring pills by the bagful.

"The first Pill Drop collected 368 pounds of pills and 65 gallons of sharps," he says, "We were overwhelmed."

"Sharps" are used needles, glass medication vials, or any medical device that could cut or stick someone. Local participating hospitals handle sharps disposal for the program.

The next Pasco Pill Drop will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 23 in front of the Gulfview Mall in Port Richey. "The concept is: drive up, drop off and drive out," Dede says. "You don't even have to get out of your car."

When it comes to medication that was prescribed to someone else or medication that has expired, safety must take priority over need. So Nelson is forced to continue refusing this generous gesture. She can, however, accept unopened, current medication samples. And checks, of course.

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