If you receive medications that are damaged, do the following:
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Check all bottles upon receipt to determine if any damage has occurred while in transit. To receive appropriate credit and/or replacement damage must be reported in less than 30 days time from the ship date from the pharmacy.
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Do not discard damaged medications until you have reported the occurrence to your pharmacy and received directions from them. On some occasions it will be appropriate to destroy the medicine and in other instances the pharmacy will require a pick up of the damaged medicine.
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Contact your local health department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) office for specific requirements on disposing of unusable or expired medications in your area:
American Public Health Association
EPA: Where You Live |
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If your medication expires, handle as follows:
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As a general rule, throw away any prescription medicine that has not been used in six months time.
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Destroy outdated or improperly stored medications, even if they are a current prescription the composition of medications change with improper storage over time, altering the medication's therapeutic value.
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If medication is expired, it should be discarded - even if the bottle hasn't been opened.
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Discard medications in a manner to render them unusable (flushing when appropriate) or place them within a paper or plastic bag and then add that bag to your trash disposal. Do NOT just toss it into the trash where a child could discover and use it. |
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