Survey of medication disposal: Patient views and awareness

The improper disposal of medication poses potential environmental and health problems. When medications are disposed of improperly, they can enter the water supply and other parts of the environment. This can lead to unintended ecological and health consequences. Proper disposal is one of the best ways of preventing this. In this study, we characterized the attitudes and preexisting knowledge of proper disposal of unused medications in endocrinology patients in Southern California. Our hypothesis was that people would be willing to drive to properly dispose of medications if they were aware of proper medication disposal practices. The respondents overwhelmingly indicated that they would be willing to properly dispose of unused medication but reported that they were unaware of the procedures, and would be willing to properly dispose of their unused medications given the appropriate education. These results have applications for future efforts such as increased education or awareness of medication disposal procedures to limit improper drug disposal.