Storing medicines is like storing food, when they pass their expire date, they can be of great health risk.
As most Australians admit to taking expired pills, there is an ongoing campaign urging people to clean their medicine cabinets. A recent study shows that one-in-five has taken a medicine beyond its use-by date.
Danielle Stowasser, an adviser at NPS, states that taking an old medicine can lead to serious health implications.
As consuming spoiled food is considered risky, then collecting expired medicines is even worse. Removing damaged food is easily done, but it turns out that storing medicines is quite common among Australians.
Medicines decompose slowly, first they become less effective and if no attention is paid upon consuming, some may even become toxic. Having such questionable pills around your home can lead to unwanted health problems.
Sorting medicines usually takes about 10 minutes. Removing old expired pills and safely disposing of them is the right solution.
All Australians can dispose of old medicines properly by returning them to the nearest pharmacy. The clearance should be performed twice a year – recommends Australian Medical Association Queensland spokesman Mason Stevenson.
