Time to Clean Out Medicine Cabinet

As the seasons change and you're cleaning out closets, pulling out winter sweaters and putting away summer shorts, make cleaning out the medicine cabinet part of your fall routine too. A quick inventory each fall of what's sitting in your medicine cabinet could save a life.

Out With The Old

Check the expiration dates on all medications. If medicine has expired, it is no longer effective, that we know. But did you know some expired medicines can actually be dangerous if used? If the antibiotic, tetracycline, is taken past it's expiration date, it can cause liver toxicity or using expired eye drops can cause an eye infection. Place all old medicine, prescription and over-the-counter, in a bag and take to your pharmacist for proper disposal. If medicine is sent to the landfill or flushed down the toilet, it eventually ends up in the environment and adds to water or soil pollution, let the pharmacist handle the discarded medicine properly.

Discard Leftovers

Discard any leftover medicine, even if it has not expired. Medicine prescribed for one ailment may not work for a similar ailment, even if the symptoms are close. Contamination is another reason leftover medications should be discarded. Most everyone turns up the bottle of liquid cough medicine and takes a swig as needed when suffering from a cold or flu. Guess where the germs go? Right into the bottle of liquid medicine, contaminating the contents.

Change is Bad

Any medications that have changed in color, smell or consistency has gone bad and should be discarded, even if it has not past it's expiration date. Nasal spray or eye drops that are cloudy, aspirin that has a vinegar-like smell or band-aids that have turned yellow should not be used. If liquid medication has thinned or thickened since it was last used, do not use now.

Take Medicine Out of Bathroom

Medicine cabinets have been located in the bathroom for ever, and that is the worst room in the home to store medicine. Fluctuating temperatures and moisture in the bathroom can affect the potency of medication. Take all medicine out of the bathroom and store it in a cool, dry, dark location (where children can not access it). A top shelf of a linen closet, clothes closet, pantry shelf or seldom used kitchen cabinet that is away from the stove are good medicine storage location.