Pill Terminator Says “Hasta La Vista” to Old Medicines

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I had knee surgery last week. I am fine, but part of the recovery included a prescription for Vicodin. My one year old thought the Vicodin bottle was an awesome rattle, so now that I am finished with the pain pills I have disposed of them safely using the Pill Terminator!

Pill terminator

Pill Terminator is one of those simple but brilliant inventions. It’s a simple plastic bottle with a child proof cap, and inside is a powdered chemical mix. You can add up to 300 pills, then pour in hot water, put the cap on, shake, and dispose of the entire product. Or, if you’re reviewing the product, you shake and then immediately open and inspect the weird jelly substance inside, and make a mental note to buy more strawberry jam next time you hit the grocery store. The point is, it’s dead simple to dispose of pills safely, and you don’t have to wait for a “pill disposal day” in your county or even leave the house.

 

And it is very, very important to properly dispose of your pills. You don’t want kids or pets accidentally ingesting pills, and painkillers can be abused or stolen if they are kept unsecured.

Pill Terminator has a slew of anxiety inducing articles and stories on pill abuse and accidental overdoses, and yes, they are trying to sell you a product, but this a serious and legitimate issue. The FDA has an excellent website that explains the risks of keeping unsecured pills around and offers suggestions on how to dispose of pills.

Pill terminator

Meds neutralized!

 

I have two reservations about Pill Terminator, but neither are deal breakers. One, it costs money, while community pill disposal days (and FDA suggestions like mixing pills in coffee grinds and kitty litter) are free. Two, you’re throwing away the entire bottle along with the destroyed pills, creating extra waste. However, the Pill Terminator beats doing nothing or stockpiling old pills for a long time; it also makes the disposal process easy and stress reducing (it was fun to shake the pills into submission!) The Pill Terminator also insures the pills are totally neutralized, and since the pill cocktail turns to gel, there’s nothing to leak or spill. A single bottle is $12.95 and can handle up to 300 pills; you can also buy in bulk if you have a great deal of unused medicine, or you love giving slightly odd safety gifts to friends and family.

If you have a handful of unused prescriptions, this may not be worth the cost. But if you have kids around and need to properly dispose of medicine, or you have a lot of half-used prescriptions, Pill Terminator is a safe and quick way to clean out your medicine cabinet!

Source: Manufacturer provided review sample

What I liked: Neutralizes medicine in seconds; easy to use; accommodates liquids and pills; reduces risk of abuse or accidental overdose from medicines kept in the home.

What needs improvement: Generates some excess waste that goes into the trash; pricey.

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About the Author

Zek
Zek has been a gadget fiend for a long time, going back to their first PDA (a Palm M100). They quickly went from researching what PDA to buy to following tech news closely and keeping up with the latest and greatest stuff. They love writing about ebooks because they combine their two favorite activities; reading anything and everything, and talking about fun new tech toys. What could be better?