Hello,
I’m looking for evidence or information on the need to denature medication prior to disposal. I have occasionally observed pots of jelly like substances used to inject surplus medication into prior to disposal and wondered about the necessity/usefulness/environmental aspects of doing this. Does anyone have any information they could share with me?
Many thanks,
Jessica
Hi Jessica, I haven't seen the jelly pots but have used granules in pots which swell and coagulate in contact with water. Possibly the same thing? I've used these to ensure that controlled drugs can't be retrieved from waste in the hospital setting. I've also used sachets of the granules to drop into large containers which absorb liquid waste sitting on the bottom (this was to help with disposal of large volumes of CD waste, e.g. a part used epidural). Hope that's of some use, Tracy.
Hi Jessica, I haven't ever seen this for anything other than destruction of controlled drugs. As Tracy says, this is to prevent anyone being able to fish CDs out of the waste bins, and I believe is a legal requirement to dispose of CDs in this way.
Hi both,
Thank you so much - this is really helpful. Do you have the details of these containers so I can pass on to my pharmacy team?
Many thanks,
Jess
Hi everyone,
We use granules to absorb liquid biological waste, prior to cleaning and desinfecting. As a legal requirement, in Portugal, all discarded medicines, are put aside and should be incinerated.
Thank you all for your advice!
Michael Hamlyn do you have any references to demonstrate the legal requirements of its use?
Thank you!
Hi Jess,
Have a look at https://my.supplychain.nhs.uk/catalogue/product/kbd4103