Using expired medications and used syringes presents a number of health risks. Return them free of charge to a Jean Coutu pharmacy near you for safe and environmentally friendly disposal!
Expired medication collection and management: an important service
Your Jean Coutu-affiliated owner-pharmacist offers you a specialized service for the safe and environmentally responsible recovery of expired medications and used syringes.
Expired medications: what are the risks?
In addition to losing their effectiveness, expired medications can also be hazardous to health. What's more, unidentified drugs left in cabinets also run the risk of being misused.
Keep a close eye on your medication's expiry date
Clean out your medicine cabinet at least once or twice a year (ideally every change of season) to identify expired, useless or harmful medications. Your pharmacist can also advise you on the best way to store your medication.
What medications should I return?
Any type of medication that has passed its expiry date must be returned to a pharmacy or specialized collection point for safe and proper disposal.
- Prescription drugs: Any type of medication prescribed by a healthcare professional.
- Over-the-counter medications, such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen and antihistamines.
- Natural health products, such as vitamins and minerals, herbal remedies, homeopathic products, trace elements, traditional remedies, supplements and essential oils.
- All types of antibiotics, whether in tablet, liquid or cream form.
- Syringes and injectable medications: Medications administered intravenously, and the syringes and needles used to inject them, must also be returned. Your pharmacist can provide containers to dispose of this type of medication safely.
Returning all types of expired medication to your pharmacist will ensure that they are disposed of properly. This helps you avoid environmental contamination and prevent unpleasant surprises or undesirable effects, such as drug intoxications.
Above all, don't throw out your expired medications!
The habit of throwing expired medications into the garbage can, the sink or the toilet is detrimental to public health and the environment. Only a pharmacy can dispose of them safely and ecologically.
How do you dispose of expired medications? Here are the three steps you need to take to clean out your medicine cabinet and correctly collect your medications.
1
Check the expiration date of each medication
All medications have an expiration date on the label, so it's important to keep them in their original packaging. Please note that if the medication box indicates an expiry date different from the one on the label, the latter should be used as the reference, since it was validated by your pharmacist.
2
Determine the purpose and dosage of each medication
In addition to checking the expiry date of your medications, you should also make sure they are still useful. It is important to know the purpose of each medication you have and to be able to answer the question: are they still necessary? If in doubt, feel free to ask your pharmacist for help.
3
Take all your medications back to the pharmacy free of charge
Your pharmacist works with specialized companies that dispose of expired or unused health products in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.
Where and how to dispose of used/unused syringes?
Used or unused syringes and needles can cause injury. To avoid unfortunate accidents, use a secure container specifically designed to collect this type of sharp object. They are available free of charge at the prescription counter of your pharmacy. Simply return your container for safe disposal by your pharmacist.
Recovering expired medications is our business
Protect your family by entrusting us with your expired medications and used syringes. Our specialists will take care of the rest! Need more information? Find out more from your pharmacist.
