Safe Storage of Prescription Medications

When you are in charge of the medications, it is important to be able to store them safely. I have a locking medicine cabinet that allows me to store away the medications safely out of reach of the small nieces and nephews that scurry around the house from time to time. In addition I have a second storage cabinet that I can lock up that holds the medications that are either temporarily pulled from what my dad takes or that he no longer is taking for one reason or another but may restart. This keeps the medications from being mixed up and accidentally given to him. The second cabinet is also where I put things that I'm not sure if he should be taking right now or not (like the sleep pill the hospital doctor gave him).

Anything that I know he is not going to be needing or that is out dated is dropped in the toilet for a proper burial at sea. By sending it to the septic system I eliminate the risk that the dog might get into the trash and thereby get into the disposed of medications.

If you have medications that require refrigeration, then my first recommendation would be keeping them in a small locking bar style refrigerator. I'm assuming you don't have one of those, however, (I know I don't) so my second suggestion is to get a small box like you would keep index cards in. Buy a small hasp and padlock and install them on the file box and tuck it away in the back of the refrigerator with the medicine locked inside it. You could even, if you wanted to, bolt it to the shelf or something to make sure it's not misplaced somehow.

Whatever you do, be safe and keep the medicine out of reach of children. Also be sure to read the storage information or talk to your pharmacist about how to properly store the medicine at home.