Disposal Of Prescription Medications And Needles
Suffolk Veterinary Group will not provide returns, refunds, credits, exchanges, or any other form of compensation for any dispensed prescription medications. Families who have prescription medications for their pets they find they no longer need ought to dispose of those medications in a manner that prevents them from being obtained by children or pets, or as instructed on the package label.
Click Here For Our Prescription Medication Policy
Do Not Flush Medications Down The Sink Or Toilet
Also, the Suffolk County Police 6th Precinct (at the South-West corner of North Ocean Avenue and Middle Country Road in Selden) has a 24 hour, 7 day a week available pharmaceutical drop-off box for all prescription, over-the-counter, and controlled substances.
If you wish to dispose of prescription medications yourself at home, we recommend you place them in a zip-lock bag in a manner where they will be in contact with the complete contents of the bag , add used cat litter, coffee grounds, or dog droppings to the bag in such as way as the moisture content of these undesirables will contaminate the medication, seal the bag, seal the bag again in a second zip-lock bag and duct tape the seal securely, and then toss in the trash. Remember to always wash your hands after handling animal fecal or other waste material.
Insulin and Fluid Therapy Syringes and Needles
There are often times when pets require injections provided by you at home. The syringes and needles used to provide these injections are considered a medical waste hazard.
The Town of Brookhaven recommends placing these needles and syringes in a puncture proof, hard plastic container, filling the container with a little bleach, and then capping the container and throwing it in the trash. We would recommend taking the extra step to duct tape the top of the container as well to ensure it is tightly sealed. Examples of a hard plastic container would include bleach containers, or laundry detergent containers. Water bottles or any other container made of flimsy plastic materials and is easily crushed do not qualify as proper needle and syringe disposal containers.
Other townships may have different medical waste disposal requirements, so please check with your own municipality before disposing of any syringes and needles.
Call 631-696-2400 if you have any questions regarding the disposal of prescription medications or other medical wastes.