Are community pharmacies allowed to destroy controlled substances under the disposal rule?

• A. No
• B. Yes, they may collect and properly dispose of unwanted prescriptions from patients
• C. Yes, but only in limited circumstances with police authorization
• D. Only pharmacies in hospitals may dispose

Answer: (B)

Disposal rules allow community pharmacies to act as collection points for unwanted controlled substances from patients and arrange for their proper destruction. Under the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act, a DEA-registered collector like a community pharmacy can take back leftover medications from the public and ensure they’re destroyed using approved methods (for example, incineration or via a DEA-registered reverse distributor), with the necessary recordkeeping. This helps prevent misuse and diversion by ensuring medications aren’t simply discarded or left unsecured.

So, community pharmacies are permitted to collect and properly dispose of unwanted prescriptions from patients. They don’t need police authorization, and disposal isn’t limited only to hospital pharmacies.