How do I take the medicine safely?
Always wash your hands with soap and water
before and after taking a potential or reproductive hazard medicine.
If your medicine is damaged—for example, a broken pill (or powder found in the medicine container), leaking liquid, or the fluid for the injection is cloudy—talk to your pharmacist.
Taking a pill
Don't chew, crush, dissolve, break, or open pills (tablet or capsule) unless your pharmacist tells you to.
Taking a liquid medicine
To take the liquid medicine:
- By mouth, use the prefilled oral syringe, if your pharmacist gave you one. If your medicine isn't in a prefilled oral syringe, use an oral syringe from your pharmacist to measure out 1 dose.
- Through your feeding tube, use the prefilled tube-feeding syringe (if your pharmacist gave you one). If your medicine isn't in a prefilled tube-feeding syringe, use a tube feeding syringe and measure out 1 dose.
Oral or tube-feeding syringes that are used more than once should be cleaned immediately after each use. Do not put them in boiling water, a dishwasher, or a microwave oven. Follow these steps:
- Put on disposable gloves before cleaning the syringes (if you're a caregiver).
- Take the plunger out of the barrel of the syringe.
- Wash both parts in warm water and soap separately from other items.
- Rinse them well with water to remove all the soap.
- Place them on a clean towel or lint-free paper towel and let them air dry.
- Store the syringe and plunger in clean container at room temperature. Do not store them in your fridge.
- Throw out the syringe when the plunger becomes hard to move or you can't read the numbers clearly.
Taking the medicine other ways
To take a potential or reproductive hazard medicine by an injection (with a needle), follow the instructions from your healthcare provider.
To apply a potential or reproductive hazard medicine as a cream, gel, or ointment, follow the instructions from your healthcare provider.
How would a caregiver give me a potential or reproductive hazard medicine safely?
Caregivers should
not touch the medicine with bare hands.
Caregivers should always do the following when giving you this medicine:
- Wear disposable gloves.
- Wash hands with soap and water before putting on disposable gloves and after taking them off. Do not touch other objects or surfaces while wearing disposable gloves.
- Give pills by pouring them into a cup (disposable, if possible) or into the cap of the medicine bottle.
- Follow your healthcare provider's instructions for applying the medicine as a cream, gel, or ointment.
