If you are like most people, your medicine cabinet is probably full of expired products. The misuse of medications leads to unnecessary hospital visits and avoidable risks.
A yearly clean-up of your medicine cabinet is ideal. Take expired products to your local Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist who will dispose of them safely. Next time you reach into the medicine cabinet, you’ll feel confident knowing that your source of remedies is up-to-date, safe and ready to use.
Expired medicine in the house could be taken in error or could get into the hands of a child. Removing expired medication also eliminates the possibility that it will be stolen and used for illicit purposes. Finally, this eliminates the possibility of having people share medication with others when they are done using it.
As you get started on clearing out the old and replacing it with the new, remember some of the following advice:
- Medications, even over-the-counter products, should NOT be disposed of using traditional means. Medicine should not be thrown in the garbage or flushed down toilets/drains: it ends up in the environment, untreated and potentially unstable. Clean out your medicine cabinet, Shoppers Drug Mart can help. Bring your expired medications to your nearest store and Shoppers Drug mart will safely dispose of them for you.
- Re-consider your storage approach: although it seems intuitive to store medications in the bathroom, this is probably the worst place to keep them due to the moisture, heat and humidity. These tend to degrade the quality of a prepared medication, so it is best to store medications in a hallway closet, for example, or anywhere that is dry, away from direct sources of light, and safely out of the reach of young children.
- Dispose of any medication that is 12 months old or older
- Any medicine not in its original container should be removed from your cabinet
- Clear out duplicates of any medications or assess whether you truly need both items
Now that you’ve treated your home medicine cabinet to a makeover, you can take the time to stock up on some commonly used items:
- A thermometer
- A medicine spoon or oral liquid syringe
- First aid supplies (e.g., bandages, antiseptic, tensor bandage)
- Sunscreen
