Medication Safety: How to Take, Store, and Dispose of Medicines Safely

Medication safety means the practice of medicine with measures designed to optimize benefits and prevent harm related to drugs-including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, food supplements, and drugs-and even those dispensed to and monitored in children and the elderly.

While most drugs are safely ingested by humans, some errors do occur along a medications many stages, from prescription and dispensing to storage, taking and monitoring. Adverse drug events, in particular-medication errors, side effects, and allergic reactions and over-medication,-are considered by the CDC to be a critical, preventable patient safety concern.

WHO reports that almost 50 percent of preventable harm in health care is caused by medication-related harm, which helps put the practice of safe medication practices into perspective even outside clinical settings.

What Is Medication Safety?

Medication safety is those measures taken to avoid unintended medication errors and related harm.

A medication error can include any mistake in taking the wrong medicine, dose, route, timing or length of therapy or simply the wrong way. They can be down to confusing labels, look and sound-alike medicines, bad storage and lack of adequate medication information/communication.

Medication safety is everybody’s job- patients, family, doctors, pharmacists, all health care workers.

Safe Medication Use

Before taking a medicine, know what it is, why you are taking it, how much to take, when to take it and how long to take it.

Follow these basic rules:

• Take prescription medicines exactly as directed.
• Read the OTC label before every new medicine.
• Don’t take someone else’s prescription medicine.
• Don’t change your dose or stop a prescribed medicine without professional advice.
• Tell your doctor or pharmacist about other medicines, vitamins and supplements you use.
• Ask about possible food, alcohol or drug interactions.
• Keep an updated list of your medicines.

WHO recommends actively involving patients in medication safety and encourages people to “Know. Check. Ask.” when using medicines.

Understanding Medication Labels

Medication labels contain information that helps you use a medicine correctly.

Look for:

• Medicine name
• Strength
• Dose
• Directions
• Frequency
• Route of administration
• Warnings
• Possible interactions
• Storage instructions
• Expiration date

Don’t think all medicines with different brand names has different drugs in it. Looking at the active ingredients will help you avoid double dipping and taking both.

For liquid medicines, use the medicine cup or other medicine measuring device provided with the medicine instead of a kitchen spoon. The CDC especially advocates use of milliliters(mL) for liquid dosage of medicines so dosing errors can be minimized.

Correct Dosage and Timing

Taking too little may reduce the medicine’s effectiveness, while taking too much can increase the risk of adverse effects or overdose.

Create a simple medication routine:

Read → Measure → Take → Record

For medicines taken regularly, a medication chart, reminder or pill organizer may help—but keep the original labeled containers available so you can verify the medicine, strength and instructions.

Skipped a dose, don’t automatically double up on your next. Look at the medication insert or ask a pharmacist or other health care provider; what you do depends on the medication.

Preventing Medication Errors

This types of medication errors may also be very common. For example:

Wrong medication

Wrong dosage

Wrong frequency (too soon or too late)

Using duplicate of an active ingredient medicine

Taking other person’s medication

Reading liquid measure incorrectly

Similar looking/sounding medicines mixing them up

Not telling a healthcare professional about another medicine

WHO’s LASA (look-alike, sound-alike) drugs are the recognized medication errors source.

Helpful in-home checklist for checking medications is:

Right medicine + right person + right dosage + right frequency + right administration method

For children this is particularly sensitive because the dose might need to be based on age and/or weight. 2025 patient-safety guidance issued by WHO points child dosing and available medication devices specifically.

Medication Storage

Store medicines as you have been instructed.

In general:

• Store medicines in their original containers.
• Store at the prescribed temperatures, even if the label doesn’t specifically mention them.
• Store all medicines away from dampness and high heat.
• Store and keep all medicines in a place where it is unlikely that children will get to them.
• Do not leave medicines in extremely hot or cold places, like in your car or on the windowsill if it is already hot outside.
• Store chilled medicines at the required temperature when not being used.

According to The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA), even if a medicine is not past its expiry date, it can become inactive if it is not stored at the correct temperature.

A safer home medication setup

Storage practice	Better choice
Kitchen counter	Closed, appropriate storage area
Bathroom cabinet	Cool, dry location unless the label says otherwise
Child-accessible shelf	High, secure location
Loose tablets	Original labeled container
Refrigerated medicine	Refrigerator if specifically instructed
Unidentified pills	Don’t use until identified

Medication Expiration Dates

Make it a habit to always look at the expiry date before taking a medicine.

Some expired medicines may be less effective or may not conform to quality standards that are expected of them. Poor storage of medicines might also lead to loss of quality.

Do not store vast amounts of “just-in-case” medicines. Go through your medicine chest from time to time and segregate medicines that should not be taken or stored.

According to FDA, one should always check their medication for expiration and be mindful of ways to properly dispose of them.

Safe Medication Disposal

Do not flush or trash medicines. There are different guidelines for different drugs and situations.

If a drug has gone expired or is unused:

1. Look for directions about what to do with the drug on the package.
2. Consult a pharmacist for the best course of action.
3. Use authorized medicine take-back programs if one is present near you.
4. Follow special directions if disposal guidelines exist specifically for the drug.

For readers in India, the procedures will vary by area so a local pharmacist or medical facility will provide helpful information.

Medication Safety for Children and Older Adults

Children

Especially vulnerable to medication errors are young children who are weighed to calculate their dose. A danger arises as well if children ingest medicine by accident. To prevent this, always put medicines out of children’s sight and reach immediately after use, and never refer to them as “candy” to entice a child to drink them.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched its protect initiative to promote locked medicine cabinets, child-resistant packaging and improved dosing device accuracy.

Older adults

Older adults, taking multiple Rx meds, OTC products and/or dietary supplements can be susceptible to drug interactions or even inadvertent doubling of doses or to making medication errors. Such as the other groups mentioned, age itself- with age related changes in liver and kidney function that may influence the metabolism or removal of drugs-may lead to some medicines impacting older patients more or less depending on the medication.

Older adults are urged by the FDA to speak with their provider about their medications and not alter doses or cease to take Rx medications without the aid of their medical professional.

When to Ask a Healthcare Professional

Ask a doctor or pharmacist if:

• You’re unsure how much medicine to take.
• You don’t understand the label.
• You accidentally took too much.
• You missed a dose and don’t know what to do.
• You’re taking several medicines.
• You’re pregnant or breastfeeding.
• You experience a new or severe side effect.
• You develop symptoms of a possible allergic reaction.
• You aren’t sure whether two medicines can be taken together.
• You don’t know how to store or dispose of a medicine.

Seek urgent medical help for a suspected overdose, severe allergic reaction, difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness, seizure, severe confusion, or other potentially life-threatening symptoms.

Final Takeaway

Medication safety is far more than simply remembering to take a pill. It includes not just the taking of the medicine but the processes of selecting, prescribing, labeling, measuring the appropriate dose, time of administration and even storage and disposal of the medication.

In essence, the approach can be summarized as; Know. Check. Ask.

Maintain the most current list of medications.

Don’t be afraid to ask a pharmacist or doctor questions, and proceed cautiously when administering to a child or caring for an elderly person with numerous medications.