I have to get rid of my dad’s medications since he has passed. There’s a sheriff’s drop box at our city hall for drug disposal. It says “no aerosols”.
I have several packages of Trelegy Ellipta, an inhaled COPD medication.
I THINK this is not an aerosol based on info on this page but I want to be sure. My dad’s name is all over the drugs so I don’t want to do it wrong.
He also had a rescue inhaler but from what I can tell that is aerosol so I pitched it in the regular trash.
Unless the stuff is likely to poison children or be stolen and abused, is there any reason not to just put it in the trash? I wouldn’t think an inhaled COPD medication would be something you need to worry about.
It’s basically an over-engineered blister pack opener, no aerosol involved.
Source: I took this for a year and tore an empty package apart out of curiosity
It is not an aerosol. It can safely be put in the drop box. Also, most pharmacies will take back unused medications for safe disposal and they do not need to be from that pharmacy.
It is never a good idea to throw meds in the trash or flush down the toilet. Ask a community pharmacist or your local public health department.
Interestingly, Trelegy sells for almost $700 for each unit. $700 for a one month supply. Sadly there is no legal way to get those units to someone who needs them.
Ugh that sucks!! I have 4 brand new boxes I would love to pass on!
Ohio actually did just make prescription donation legal this year but you have to do it through an authorized intermediary and no one has really set up these intermediaries yet.
Thanks for the info, all.
A nitpick from a scientist who spent 17 years in aerosol science and filtration, “aerosol” technically means particles suspended in air (the particles being solid or liquid). Some products, a classic example being spray paint, come in pressurized cans that convert a liquid into an aerosol using the spray nozzle. Technically it’d be proper to refer to these as propellant aerosol cans. The issue with disposal is whether there’s propellant, as it is under pressure and could be flammable. The Trelegy package delivers an aerosol by breaking open the blister and letting your airflow entrain the powder inside. It’s like a puffball on the forest floor.
But by these technical definitions you’re still following the letter of the law, not just the spirit. When you’re throwing them out, the blisters are still full of powder, and not getting aerosolized.