There’s important information out there right now about Tylenol, Motrin and other McNeil products that have been recalled. You will want to go to your medicine cabinet and check the lot numbers for affected products. While you are at it, this is a very good time to clean out other unusable medications in your medicine cabinet. If you are getting ready to move and/or show your house, it’s a very good idea to address your medicine cabinet. We talked to an expert about the recall and home medicine safety.

Stephen Obszarski is a Clinical Care Pharmacist for Kroger, and he helped us out with some important information regarding the recalled medications and other drugs.

Tylenol Recall

“Several Products manufactured by McNeil have been added to the ‘Tylenol Recall,’ and McNeil has set up a nice web site to check on the products you may have at home,” Stephen says. “McNeil had received reports that products had a strong musty or moldy smell, and the smell was causing cases of varying degrees of stomach upset. McNeil is reporting that the contaminant to the products is a chemical used to treat shipping palettes that had leached into the product packages.”

The products included are some varieties of Tylenol, Motrin, Rolaids, Benadryl, Simply Sleep and St. Joseph Aspirin. You are supposed to check the lot numbers against the website, and dispose of any affected product to avoid potential illness. If you believe you became ill as a result of using one of the affected products, you are supposed to report to your healthcare provider and also to the FDA’s MedWatch program. (By fax at 1-800-FDA-0178; by mail at MedWatch, FDA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852-9787; or on the MedWatch website at www.fda.gov/medwatch.)

You can call McNeil to receive a refund for your affected product. No word on how effectively or quickly people are receiving refunds.

Expired and Unused Medicines

While you’re examining your medicine cabinet, it’s a good idea to go through and check the expiration dates of the products you’ve been storing. Stephen says you should absolutely dispose of medicines that have expired as well as unused prescription medications. Don’t hold on to unused prescription drugs for later!

“Manufacturers determine expiration dates of their medications based on safety and stability of their products over time.  Expiration dates are also based on proper storage of medications.  Medications are tested for stability at controlled room temperature, humidity and lighting.  Bathrooms, with extreme temperatures and humidity fluctuations, are the WORST place to store your medications, especially medications that are stored over long periods of time.  Refrigeration does not improve the expiration and is not recommended for many medications.”

Your over the counter meds and physician samples will have an expiration date on the package. Your prescriptions should have an expiration date on the label, one year from the day it was filled or the manufacturer’s expiration date, whichever is sooner. Anything that is expired, prescription or otherwise, should be properly disposed of if they are past expiration date OR if they have been stored and unused for more than a year.

“Some medications, over-the-counter included, actually do go bad after their expiration date,” Stephen says. “Some expired medications can cause extremely dangerous disorders and damage to your body.”

Here’s Stephen’s Checklist for tackling your medicine cabinet:

• Throw away products that have expired.
• Throw away products that have not been used for 12 months.
• Throw away prescription products that you are no longer using.
• Do no share prescription medication.  Sharing medications can be dangerous or even illegal.
• You should never have a few “left-over” antibiotics.  Antibiotics should be taken according to prescribed directions for the entire prescribed course of therapy.  If your physician stops an antibiotic mid-therapy, you should throw away any remaining medication.  Taking the wrong antibiotic for an infection, just because you have it on hand, can be very dangerous.

Wait! Before you toss those in the trash, here’s a few tips on how to dispose of those meds:

DON’T: Flush medications or put any medications down the drain
DO: Disposal of unneeded or expired medications properly:

• Pour medication into a sealable plastic bag. If medication is a solid (pill, liquid capsule, etc.) add water to dissolve it.
• Add kitty litter, sawdust, coffee grounds (or any material that mixes with the medication and makes it less appealing for pets and children to eat) to the plastic bag.
• Seal the plastic bag and put it in the trash.
• Remove and destroy ALL identifying personal information (prescription label) from all medication containers before recycling them or throwing them away.
• More information for disposal of medication can be found here.

If you’re selling and showing your house, Stephen says you should definitely get prescription drugs out of sight. “I would recommend having medications hidden or out of the house to remove temptations.  Buyers will clearly want to see the storage space of cabinets and pantries and will ‘discover’ the medications.  Most people will not know a blood pressure medication from a pain medication, but I would think it would be easier to take whatever they see and sort through the details later.  Replacing lost or stolen medications can be difficult and expensive.”

Don’t wait to clean out your meds — Check the McNeil products in your home and dispose of any affected ones. Then go ahead and clean out that cabinet as suggested. Do this a couple times a year. You’ll want the products in your home to be safe and effective when you’re sick and need to take them. Any questions you have about storage of a medication, talk to your pharmacist.

For more information about the recall, visit www.mcneilproductrecall.com.

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