William Fowler

Development of Disposal Systems for Deactivation of Unused/Residual/Expired Medications

PurposeThe objective of this work was to identify deactivation agents and develop a disposal system for unused/ residual/ expired medications.MethodsDeactivation agents screened included oxidizing agent-sodium percarbonate, hydrolysis agent- sodium carbonate and adsorbants- zeolite and activated carbon. Deactivation studies using these agents were performed on four active pharmaceutical agents (APIs) including ketoprofen, dexamethasone sodium phosphate, metformin hydrochloride and amoxicillin trihydrate. Disposal systems were also designed for deactivation studies on dexamethasone pills, amoxicillin trihydrate capsules and fentanyl transdermal patches (Duragesic®). Briefly, APIs/ dosage forms were allowed to be in close contact with deactivation agents for a specified period of time and percentage decrease in the amount of API from the initial amount was measured.ResultsSodium percarbonate and sodium carbonate were only successful in deactivation of amoxicillin trihydrate API. Adsorption agents resulted in more universal deactivation with activated carbon resulting in efficient deactivation of most APIs and all dosage forms tested. Also adsorption of oral dosage medications on activated carbons was maintained even on dilution and shaking and no desorption was observed.ConclusionsDeactivation systems containing activated carbon are promising for efficient, safe and environment friendly disposal of unused/residual/expired medications.

Evaluation of an activated carbon-based deactivation system for the disposal of highly abused opioid medications

Abstract Context: The improper disposal of unused prescription opioids has a potential for abuse as well as environmental contamination. Consequently, there is an imperative need for an environmentally safe, convenient, and effective drug disposal system. Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the deactivation efficiency of the disposal system employing four model opioid drugs of high abuse potential. Methods: The deactivation system used in this investigation is an activated granular carbon based disposal system in the form of a pouch, which can be used to safely and effectively deactivate unused or expired medications. HPLC method validation for each drug was performed prior to analyzing drug content in the deactivation study. Opioid drugs in different dosage forms were added to individual pouches in the presence of warm water. Pouches were shaken and sealed, then stored at room temperature. The deactivation efficiency of the system was tested by collecting samples at different time points up to 28 d. Results: An average of 98.72% of medications were adsorbed by activated carbon within 8 h and continued to do so over time. At the end of the 28-d study, more than 99.99% of all drugs were deactivated. In the desorption study, almost no drug leached out from the activated carbon in larger volume of water and less than 1.3% leached out on extraction with ethanol. Conclusion: This unique drug disposal system successfully adsorbed and deactivated the model opioid medications by the end of 28 d, offering a safe and convenient route of disposal of unused or residual opioid drugs.

Development and validation of a HPLC-UV method for Analysis of Methylphenidate Hydrochloride and Loxapine Succinate in Activated Carbon disposal system

Unused medications have the possibility of being abused, causing serious harm to individuals who were not prescribed the drug. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends the proper disposal of unused prescribed medications to maintain safety and prevent environmental hazards. However, many of the current disposal techniques do not properly address safety. A drug disposal pouch containing granular activated carbon offers a unique disposal method to deactivate residual or expired medication in a convenient, effective, and safe manner. A robust and validated method for methylphenidate hydrochloride and loxapine succinate was developed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the deactivation efficiency of the disposal system was tested. Methylphenidate hydrochloride was analyzed on a C18 analytical column (250 mm × 4.60 mm, 100Å) using acetonitrile-water (0.05% (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min with a run time of 15 min and retention time of 7.8 min. Loxapine succinate was separated on a C8 100Å (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) column maintained at 25 °C using a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The run time was 10 min and the retention time of the drug was around 4.6 min. Mobile phase was composed of acetonitrile and water (0.3% triethylamine) at pH 3.0 as 40:60 (v/v). Reference standard solutions (100 µg/mL) for both drugs were prepared by dissolving in mobile phases. These methods provide good linearity (R2 = 0.999) over the range of 5–100 µg/mL for methylphenidate hydrochloride and 0.1–100 µg/mL for loxapine succinate. The assay methods were successfully applied to study the deactivation of these drugs.