For some reason I was never contacted by the hospice after her death by anyone to handle this. At the time I thought it was odd. But after waiting several weeks I just disposed of them myself without thinking about it. I was an emotional mess at that time, and was cleaning out a lot of things. I'm still not sure what happened with the hospice people, but can I be liable criminally in any way, for doing this?
I can't imagine that you would have any issues if you threw them out. You could be in trouble if you sold them and you got caught. (Not implying that you did.)
I am so sorry for your loss. May God grant you grieving mercies and wisdom during this difficult time.
My dad was on home hospice and right after he passed I got rid of all the Oxycodone and Ativan almost immediately. My mom had been misusing her own Oxy prescription for several years and I didn’t want her dipping into my dads meds. In my own defense - the hospice people had never mentioned anything about any left over medications.
It was several days after my dad passed before the hospice folks called me about getting his leftover meds. I told them that I had dumped them and the reason why. They didn’t say anything more to me about it.
This was eight years ago and I live in Oregon. So, who knows? Maybe the laws and procedures have tightened up since then and/or maybe it varies from State to State. BUT - if they didn’t say anything to you about it before hand - when they brought the medication into your home - I can’t see how they could possibly hold you criminally liable for something that they never told you was a criminal liability.
I wouldn’t worry about it.
Take care. I am sorry for the loss of your wife.
If you worry overmuch about this call the Hospice and tell them you were on a site and it was suggested that one can get in "trouble" for keeping drugs or disposing of them, and that you had no idea, and tossed them. Now you are waiting for the men in blue to come haul you away. They will reassure you.
I worked as a secretary for our local VNA. DO NOT flush the pills down the toilet. If you drink coffee and have the grounds left over from brueing it, put the grounds in a container you can seal. Then put the pills in the grounds, mixing them in. This will neutralize the pills. Seal the container well and throw into the regular trash.
Police stations where I live now have pill drop offs. Just make sure you take the labels off of the containers.