Start the year with clean medicine cabinet
Though medicines are meant to make you feel better, they can do more harm than good if they are not kept well. This is why it is important to check and clean your cabinet at least once a year. Also read: No fair prices for medicine without access and transparency “There is a variety of …
Though medicines are meant to make you feel better, they can do more harm than good if they are not kept well.
This is why it is important to check and clean your cabinet at least once a year.
Also read:
No fair prices for medicine without access and transparency
“There is a variety of medicines, and one should be cautious about the factors that affect their ability to work as they should,” says Mohseen Mohammed, a pharmacist at Hoppies Pharmacy.
“You want the medicine to be sterile.
“Certain types of medicine may degrade and lose their effectiveness over time, and may even become dangerous over time.”
“As a rule of thumb, medicines that come in brown bottles are sensitive to light and heat.
“This is also true for suppositories.”
He says one should avoid leaving medicines open for more than a few seconds.
“Open the bottle to get the medicine out and close it immediately.
“Because even the air may affect the medicine’s effectiveness overtime.”
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Correctly used, medicine is beneficial
Mohammed advises that medicines should be kept at room temperature.
“Examine everything regularly, including ointments, and discard any item that is beyond its expiry date.”
He says medicines should also be discarded if the leak or mix in some way.
“There medicines are never supposed to be taken together.
“This may cause a drug interaction.”
“A drug interaction is a reaction between two (or more) drugs or between a drug and a food, beverage, or supplement.”
Gerda Potgieter, a pharmacist at Medipost Pharmacy, also points out that many people do not fully understand how medicine manufacturers’ expiry dates are defined, leading to confusion over whether a particular bottle of medicine is suitable or not.
“It is important to note that the expiry date actually refers to the unopened product, and indicates that the full potency and safety of the drug can be guaranteed by the manufacturer up until this date.
“Once medication is opened, the medication may become contaminated.
Taking a tablet out of its container, touching an eye drop bottle to your eyelashes or opening a bottle of cough syrup can result in air and germs being introduced, which voids the expiry date printed on the package.”
It is therefore advisable to discard any remaining unused medicine products that have been opened previously.
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Requirements when dispensing prescription medicine
Potgiter an Mohammed advise that antibiotics should never be retained for future use, and one should always complete the course of antibiotics as prescribed by your treating doctor.
Once you are done cleaning the cabinet, and have identifying products that need to be disposed, Mohammed says the discarded medicine should be taken to your local pharmacy.
“Flushing or throwing medicines in the bin can pose a danger.
“Children or animals can get hold of them.
“If they end up in dumping sites, they can be harmful to the environment.”
“The pharmacy will dispose of all products in a safe way.”
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