If Hurricane Irene left you with flooding and water damage, chances are food, drinking water, and even medicines in your home were affected, exposing you and your family to potential illness and other serious health risks. To lessen these risks, the Food and Drug Administration is recommending that you discard any drug products—even those in their original containers—that have come into contact with flood or contaminated water. That includes capsules, tablets, and liquids in drug containers with screw-top caps, snap lids, or droppers and injections, inhalers, and skin medications. If needed, contact your doctor or pharmacist for replacements.

In addition, medications that have been placed in any alternative storage containers
should be discarded if they have come in contact with flood or contaminated water.

In the case of lifesaving drugs, such as insulin for diabetics and asthma inhalers, where replacements may not be readily available, if the container is damaged or contaminated but the contents appear unaffected—if the pills are dry—the pills may be used until you can obtain a replacement. However, if a pill is wet, it is contaminated and should be discarded.

Read our advice on how to safely dispose of drugs and check out our other post-disaster tips. For more on safe drug use after a disaster, see the FDA’s website.