Expiration Date: 2004?!?!

I was taking some free time this weekend to clean up and rearrange a few things in my bathroom, this included my medicine cabinet where I found some OLD NyQuil and Sudafed that are waaay past their expiration date.

I decided to look up what I should do with them.
I have always heard that they should be flushed down the toilet, but I wasn't sure if that was wise. I live in a city so the water should go to a treatment plant to be cleaned, but what about those who have septic tanks/leeching fields and well water?

As it turns out, the FDA has a very helpful guide put together that instructs you to take advantage of your communities 'take-back' program where available. Many communities will host days where they will accept any and all expired medications and dispose of them safely for you.

They recommend only flushing medications if they specifically say on the package to do so, for most other medications the trash is best and to mix them up with something like coffee grounds. This is what I did with mine.


The Guidelines for Drug Disposal can be found here.

I hope this helps you safely discard your expired medications; remember to never consume expired drugs, especially if they are in liquid or gel cap form, and when in doubt always contact your doctor or pharmacist.