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Many California pharmacies do not provide correct drug disposal information
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Less than half of pharmacies surveyed in California provided correct information on how to dispose of prescription opioids and antibiotics, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
“We know that when these drugs are sitting in people’s homes, it has the potential to cause problems,” Rachel E. Selekman, MD, MAS, a pediatric urologist at Children’s National Hospital, told Healio Primary Care.
Not disposing of prescription medications could result in pollution-related problems, poisoning from accidental ingestion — particularly in children — or misuse, Selekman explained.
Using “secret shoppers” to call pharmacies posing as parents with leftover antibiotics or opioids, Selekman and colleagues determined whether pharmacies could provide correct instructions for drug disposal based on FDA recommendations.
A stratified random sample of the state’s rural and urban pharmacies received calls. Researchers categorized responses as correct, incorrect or incomplete.
Responses from 898 pharmacies were evaluated in the study. Of those, 47% (95% CI, 42- 51) gave correct information on antibiotic disposal and 19% (95% CI, 16-23) provided correct information on opioid disposal.
Among responding pharmacies, 29% (95% CI, 25-33) gave correct information for both opioid and antibiotic disposal.
Pharmacies provided correct information on antibiotic disposal in 49% (95% CI, 44-54) of weekday calls and 15% (95% CI, 7-31) of weekend calls. Correct information on opioid disposal was given in 20% (95% CI, 17-24) of weekday calls and 7% (95% CI, 2-22) of weekend calls.
Just 11% of pharmacies reported that they had antibiotic and opioid take-back programs at their location.
As approximately 10% of the country’s pharmacies are in California, “I suspect that this is a problem nationwide,” Selekman said.
As a result of these findings, the University of California San Francisco began a quality improvement process that provides disposal information to families of children discharged with opioids and antibiotics.
Selekman explained that while this is helpful for physicians and patients where the process is being implemented, more efforts are needed to combat the issue on a national scale. – by Erin Michael
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.