INDIANAPOLIS — Spring cleaning is a chance for you to get organized and declutter your home. Doctors at the Indiana Poison Center say one spot you should look at is your medicine cabinet - especially if you have young children in your home.
Cleaning out your cabinet is more than a chance to tidy up, its an important way to make your home safer. The director of the Indiana Poison Center says around 60 percent of the calls they receive each year are from families with children under 6-years-old who unintentionally expose themselves to medications.
"It's an everyday thing. It's an every hour thing. That children get into medications," Adam Overberg, Director of Indiana Poison Center, said. "We have almost 10,000 hospitalizations every year of children who have an unintentional medication exposure."
Due to that startling number, families need to clear out their medicine cabinet.
Overberg says the first thing you want to do look for any medications that are expired or out-of-date. Then collect any opioids, oxycodone, anti-anxiety medications like Xanax and blood pressure medications that you are no longer using.
Once you collect the unwanted medication, be sure to dispose of them properly.
"If it's a prescription drug it can be dissolved into water and then mixed in with coffee grounds or kitty litter," Overberg said. "Anything that will make it unpalatable."
If you'd rather a professional dispose of the medication, some pharmacies have drop-off containers. Also, Saturday is "National Drug Take Back Day," and there will be several locations across the city where you can drop off medications.
