Medication safety affects everyone. Learn how to prevent intentional and unintentional injury and death.
November 1-30, 2008
Prescription and over-the-counter drugs are used by Canadians to fight illness, treat or manage chronic medical conditions, and help maintain health (e.g., antibiotics, blood pressure pills, and vitamins). For medicine to help, the right medicine needs to be taken at the right time, by the right person, for the right reason.
Sometimes, even if we follow directions from our doctor or pharmacist, we will have some medicine left-over. When that happens, the left-over medicine can end up sitting in a medicine cabinet. Keeping left-over or expired medication around the house greatly increases the risk of unintentional injuries and poisoning, especially among younger children and older adults, and intentional abuse.
Improve medicine safety in our community and participate in this year’s medicine cabinet clean out event. By giving your old and unused medicines from your home to your pharmacist, you will also be protecting the environment. Pharmacies have a program for safe disposal of medicines.
From November 1-30, 2008, the Essex County Pharmacists’ Association, SOLUTIONS in Health Inc., Windsor FOCUS Community, and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit are providing a community-wide medicine safety campaign, “Windsor-Essex Medicine Cabinet Clean Out”. Here’s how you can participate.
Between November 1 – 30, 2008
- Go to your pharmacy and pick up a medicine cabinet clean out collection bag. If you are unable to get one of the campaign bags, you can use any plastic bag.
- Review all of the prescription and over-the-counter drugs, including vitamins and herbals that you keep in your home.
- Place all the medications that have expired or that you have stopped using (e.g., antibiotics, pain pills, drops, creams, ointments, cough syrups, etc) in this bag.
- Return your old or unused medications in this bag to your usual pharmacy.
- As a campaign participant, when you hand in your bag of old or unused medications, ask the pharmacy staff for a ballot for a chance to win a Nintendo Wii console.
- Fill out the ballot and place it in the ballot box on the pharmacy counter.
For more information on safe disposal of medicines in your home, speak to your pharmacist or contact the nurse coordinating this year’s medicine cabinet clean out campaign. In addition click on the links below to learn more about medicine safety.
Judy Palesh, Public Health Nurse, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit,
Tel - 519-258-2146 ext. 3138 or e-mail - jpalesh@wechealthunit.org
Here is a list of organizations that provide medicine safety information.
