The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been called to create a single national disposal system for pharmaceutical waste from more than 100 organizations and individuals in order to reduce pharmaceutical waste.
FDA Commissioner Stephen Ostroff has been pushed to end it’s “flush list” and create a single pharmaceutical waste disposal guidance system.
The organization asks for the FDA to work more closely with governmental agencies to develop consistent guidelines for consumers to safely dispose of leftover household medications.
Currently, the FDA recommends flushing of medications resulting in a major disconnect between other federal agencies.
“Estimates are that 30-40 percent of leftover and expired medications in American homes go unused. The flushing of medications contributes to pharmaceutical pollution in the environment, the organizations claim.”
The group recommends pharmaceutical take-back programs to keep pharmaceuticals out of wastewater and the environment.
For more information on on proper pharmaceutical disposal, read our blog post on How to Dispose of Pharmaceutical Waste (expired pills).
This article originally appeared on Waste360.
