An Overview of What Do Hospitals Do with Expired Medical Products
7/12/2022
Do you ever wonder how medical facilities deal with expired medical products, or are you sure they won't get back into circulation or in other people's hands?
The UHN Initiative
In Toronto, the University Health Network (UHN) initiated a campaign, #WasteReductionWeek, wherein expired medical equipment and supplies are donated instead of thrown into the landfill. Numerous countries accept them because they deem these supplies to have a longer shelf life than the standards set in North America.
The project helped reduce hospital waste while giving aid to those who may need them. The supplies range from hospital beds, syringes, cotton, pads, bandages, and more. UHN and its volunteers pack the supplies safely to ensure they won't get contaminated during travel.
What About Unused Medicines?
You must know how to properly dispose of medicines, especially when you keep a lot. You can drop off many kinds of prescription and over-the-counter medications at a drug take-back program, location, or site, when unused or expired. These sites or programs can distribute the medicines that can still be taken to those who need them and properly dispose of the ones that are already unsafe for consumption.
If you don't know where to find these sites or there isn't one near your place, you can check if they are on the FDA flush list.
• If they are not on the flush list, check the packaging of the medicines on how to throw them out properly.
• If they are on the list, flush them at once in your toilet before somebody can get their hands into them.
Final Thoughts
Most hospitals throw away expired medicines in ways prescribed by the government agencies in charge of these products. For the medical supplies that can still be used or are still considered good by the standards in other countries, they pack and send them out so that others can still use them.
The UHN Initiative
In Toronto, the University Health Network (UHN) initiated a campaign, #WasteReductionWeek, wherein expired medical equipment and supplies are donated instead of thrown into the landfill. Numerous countries accept them because they deem these supplies to have a longer shelf life than the standards set in North America.
The project helped reduce hospital waste while giving aid to those who may need them. The supplies range from hospital beds, syringes, cotton, pads, bandages, and more. UHN and its volunteers pack the supplies safely to ensure they won't get contaminated during travel.
What About Unused Medicines?
You must know how to properly dispose of medicines, especially when you keep a lot. You can drop off many kinds of prescription and over-the-counter medications at a drug take-back program, location, or site, when unused or expired. These sites or programs can distribute the medicines that can still be taken to those who need them and properly dispose of the ones that are already unsafe for consumption.
If you don't know where to find these sites or there isn't one near your place, you can check if they are on the FDA flush list.
• If they are not on the flush list, check the packaging of the medicines on how to throw them out properly.
• If they are on the list, flush them at once in your toilet before somebody can get their hands into them.
Final Thoughts
Most hospitals throw away expired medicines in ways prescribed by the government agencies in charge of these products. For the medical supplies that can still be used or are still considered good by the standards in other countries, they pack and send them out so that others can still use them.