What should I do with my expired or unused medicine?

What should I do with my expired or unused factor concentrate?

You should return any out-of-date or unused stock to your haemophilia centre.  

Never give your factor to someone else to use – prescription medication cannot be interchanged. Clinicians need to know how much factor you are taking and this needs to be accurately monitored and recorded through Haemtrack. If there was a batch recall, clinicians need to know who has taken the treatment for their safety. There are also health risks, for example, someone taking donated factor, which they have never used before, could have an anaphylactic reaction, which can be life-threatening.

Donating factor to developing countries is something the Haemophilia Society has tried very hard to organise, given the desperate need for factor in some places, but at present, this is not possible. Exporting prescribed medicines involves a huge amount of paperwork and regulations, including being able to guarantee that they are stored correctly and at the right temperature for the entire journey. Like you, we hate the thought of wasting factor and are working to find a solution to this, but currently, our advice is to contact your centre about how to dispose of unneeded medication.

What should I do with unused or expired tablets?

Unused medication cannot be recycled.

Once any medication – open or otherwise – leaves the pharmacy, it cannot be recycled or used by another patient.

Return out-of-date or unused medicines to your local pharmacy or dispensary for safe disposal.

Never throw unused medicine down the sink, toilet, or in the bin.

Please remember that your medicines are prescribed only for you; it’s not safe to share them with anyone else.