Pharmaceuticals are a critical element in treating patients for medical conditions in various healthcare settings such as hospitals, long-term care facilities and other medical establishments. Pharmaceuticals are used in other industries as well such as veterinary clinics and oral health care. The safe handling, management and disposal of pharmaceuticals should be a top priority in any establishment which prescribes or manages medications of any kind.

Pharmaceutical waste occurs when medications become expired, dropped on the floor, leftover or are no longer used or needed by the patient.  Due to the vast amount of medications in healthcare facilities, disposing of pharmaceutical waste with a clearly defined policy that is compliant with all federal, state, local, tribal and facility regulations is absolutely critical. Without proper controls, medications can fall into the wrong hands through drug diversion, and improper disposal by flushing causes serious contamination to the environment and our water supply.

Preventing Drug Diversion

Drug diversion occurs when medications are misused by someone for whom they are not prescribed or intended and is a contributing factor to the opioid epidemic in the United States. Preventing drug diversion in healthcare with clearly defined and enforced drug disposal policies and procedures is critically important to protect healthcare staff and patients.

Preventing Pharmaceutical Environmental Contamination

Many types of healthcare facilities and users of medications have in the past disposed of medications by flushing, this is no longer legal in most states with federal regulations guiding the proper disposal of hazardous and nonhazardous pharmaceuticals. In order for healthcare facilities to maintain compliance with DEA and EPA regulations, they must institute a pharmaceutical waste management and disposal policy that includes methods of drug disposal which are convenient in a fast-paced environment and reliable. Reliable drug disposal prevents drug diversion and environmental contamination and includes many practices such as maintaining a chain of custody for each prescription throughout the entire lifecycle of the medication and documenting drug disposal with witness logs.