Practically half of fogeys have leftover prescription drugs at residence

Many kids stay in properties with unused pharmaceuticals and expired drugs, a brand new nationwide ballot suggests.

Practically half of mother and father say they’ve leftover prescription medicine at residence, in response to the C.S. Mott Kids’s Hospital Nationwide Ballot on Kids’s Well being at College of Michigan Well being.

4 in 5 mother and father say they’ve disposed of over-the-counter medication previous the expiration date.

“We discovered that it is common for fogeys to maintain medicines lengthy after they’re expired or now not wanted, which creates an pointless well being threat for youngsters,” stated Mott Ballot co-director Sarah Clark, M.P.H.

“Youthful kids moving into medication within the house is a serious supply of unintentional poisonings. For older kids, entry to those medicines brings threat of experimentation, diversion to friends, or different intentional misuse.”

The nationally consultant ballot was based mostly on 2,023 responses from mother and father of kids 18 and beneath who have been surveyed between August and September 2022.

Lower than half of fogeys consider that over-the-counter medication is much less efficient previous its expiration date, whereas one in 5 mother and father suppose it is unsafe.

“Dad and mom could not understand that medication is expired till they want it to handle their kid’s signs,” Clark stated. “At that time, mother and father should resolve if they are going to give the expired medication to their youngster or exit to buy new medication.”

Greater than a 3rd of fogeys say it is by no means okay to offer their youngster expired medication. However one in three mother and father consider it is okay to take action as much as three months previous the expiration date, and about the identical quantity say it might be OK previous six months or longer.

“The expiration date is the producer’s assure {that a} medicine is totally protected and efficient; over time, the medication will lose its effectiveness,” Clark stated. “Dad and mom contemplating whether or not to offer their youngster medication gone its expiration date ought to query how nicely it’ll work.”

Correct medicine disposal

Greater than three in 5 mother and father say they’re extra cautious about disposing leftover prescription medication than over-the-counter medicine. Most additionally consider it is necessary to correctly eliminate expired or leftover medication to forestall kids from moving into the medication and to guard the setting.

Nonetheless, many mother and father wrestle with understanding find out how to eliminate it. Practically three fourths say they have no idea which medicines ought to be blended in with espresso grounds or kitty litter and one in seven have flushed medication down the bathroom.

The most secure selection, Clark stated, is to drop off medication at a everlasting assortment website at a health care provider’s workplace, pharmacy or hospital, or at a neighborhood website together with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s twice annual nationwide drug take again day.

“Unused and expired drugs are a public security problem and pose well being dangers to kids,” Clark stated. “It is necessary that oldsters eliminate them correctly once they’re now not wanted to scale back dangers of youngsters getting sick in addition to the damaging impression on the setting.”

Methods to correctly safeguard youngsters from unused medicine

• Restrict the quantity of medication you deliver into your own home. Keep away from shopping for over-the-counter medication in quantities bigger than your loved ones wants. For medicine prescribed for “as wanted” use, akin to ache medicine, think about filling solely a part of the prescription, and return to the pharmacy for added doses provided that wanted.
• Maintain over-the-counter and prescription medication in its unique packaging that features dosing and expiration info. Test expiration dates in your kid’s over-the-counter medicines twice a yr, notably earlier than allergy and/or flu season.
• Lock or not less than monitor sure drugs that may be misused, together with ache medicine and sleep medicine, particularly if there are older youngsters within the residence.
• Safely eliminate unused or expired medicines by dropping them at a everlasting assortment website (akin to at a neighborhood hospital, pharmacy or physician’s workplace) or a periodic take-back occasion. Some pharmacies even have mail-back choices.
• In case you’re unable to return medication to a set website, a secondary choice is to eliminate it within the family trash. Drugs ought to go right into a plastic bag, be dissolved with water and blended with kitty litter or espresso grounds to make it unappealing for kids or pets to eat. Sealing the bag will stop the medication from leaking.
• Keep away from flushing expired or unused medication down the bathroom or sink, which can lead to medication getting within the water provide and expose residents to chemical substances in consuming water.