By Matt Bertsch
Sun Life Family Health Center pharmacy director

In the United States, overdose deaths have steadily increased over the last 12 years. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there was a 2.5-fold increase in the total number of deaths for men and women related to drug overdoses from 2001 to 2013. Over 16,000 people died due to drug overdose in 2013. That’s nearly 44 people a day.

Matt Bertsch
Matt Bertsch

“Prescription drug overdose is much more common than you might think,” says Sun Life Family Health Center Pharmacy Director Matt Bertsch.”

Here are some tips to keep your medicinal intake safe:

Always keep your prescription pills in the same bottle they came in. Some people will put all their pills in one bottle, thinking that they will be able to tell the difference between them. This is not always the case.

If you want to put your pills into one place that is easy to remember, get a pill box divided by  day or morning/afternoon. This will ensure you are taking the right pills at the right times each day, no matter what the pills look like.

Don’t switch pills from one bottle to another. While this may seem harmless on the surface, putting “like” pills together may be hazardous.

This is especially dangerous when you have two or more pills of the same relative size, shape and color. It could also be a problem if the pharmacy you use changes pill manufacturers, and suddenly your pills look a little different.

This practice could be harmful especially if dosage amounts have changed, which also could alter your instructions for taking them. If you aren’t paying attention, you could be taking much more than you need if you continue to take your medication according to instructions for a lower dose.

Additionally, if the number of refills is listed on your bottle labels, switching bottles could confuse you about how many refills you actually have. If you think you still have one left and the doctor is asking you to come in for a visit to allow him to write another prescription, you may be without your prescription a lot longer than anticipated.

Don’t take the labels off your prescription bottles. Your prescription label is your source for important information such as dosage, instructions for taking your medication, your prescribing doctor, the name and number of your pharmacy, and other assorted data related to the drug manufacturer. Without it, you, your family or your medical providers don’t have this vital information should an emergency happen.

Many people believe their medical files are open to any doctor they may see, and this is not the case. So if you do not have the labels on your bottles, you may not be able to accurately tell a new doctor or specialist the drugs prescribed to you. Wrong dosages or types of drugs could be filled for you, or new ones prescribed that could have potential bad interactions with ones you are already taking.

Keep drugs out of reach of children. One easy way to prevent accidental overdoses is to keep your medications out of reach and out of the sightline of children. This not only includes over-the-counter and pharmaceutical pill bottles, but medications that come in patch-form as well. Bertsch says some children have found medicinal patches and started using them like stickers. Be sure even when disposing of patches to fold the sticky parts together before tossing them in the trash.

“Another thing that parents should be cognizant of is to never tell kids that medicine tastes like candy,” Bertsch says. “It can cause an unfortunate association. Because, for example, iron tablets can look like M&M candy without the logo.”

And never allow children to play with or use your old pill bottles.

“Because even if you wash it out, even the slightest residue inside of it can cause harm to a child,” Bertsch adds.

Keep the contact number for Poison Control on hand at all times. If you suspect either you or someone in your household has accidentally overdosed on medication, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.

“But everyone should have that phone number memorized,” Bertsch says. “It helps save many lives.”

For more information on medication overdose, visit the Center for Disease Control at http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose.

This story appeared in the Fall Edition of InMaricopa the Magazine.