dropped pills on floor - do you keep or trash?

i was getting my medicine out of my car and dropped half the bottle on my garage floor.  it's not that clean but not filthy either.  i have 2 cats.  anyway, i picked some up and threw some away.  i am wondering whether i should throw them all away.  would you?  i googled this and there was a post from pharmacists who said that this happens all the time and they pick them back up.   omg 

if i picked them up right away is it still full of germs?  hmmmmmmmmm  what would you do?? haha 

just didn't know if you could make yourself sick with germs.  ha

For me it would depend on where I dropped the pills - a pharmacy is usually cleaner then a garage floor where there may be grease, cat hair etc.  A bathroom floor would be a no !

Pills tend to have a hard, smooth, non-porous surface that could be pretty effectively wiped free of dirt, debris and germs.

There is no 'three second rule'...but they have done studies, and a food item like a piece of bread is going to pick up germs/contaminents because of it porous natutre. Whereas an apple (even when you eat the skin) is going to be able to be brushed off and eaten...the smooth nature of it doesn't pick up germs as easily

If you give each pill a good rub with a dishtowel, you should be fine.:)

S.C.

If they fell into a puddle of motor oil or a pile of debris I would toss them.  However, there are probably more germs on your car door handle than there would be on the pills ... or on your computer key board, your telephone, your counter top and even on the pill bottle than the floor of your garage.  Would it bother you to talk on the phone or type on your computer then take a pill?(without scrubbing your hands first).  I say if you can wipe them off...keep them!  JMHO!

Donna

We have become a nation of germophobes which is why we have to go on 4th and 5th tier antibiotics when we get sick. We scrub down our bodies with anti-bactrial soaps and lotions and our bodies cannot build up resistance to viruses and infections so they mutate to dangerous and lethal levels to survive.  Our doctors prescribe antibiotics for a head cold then when we get pnuemonia nothing works.  I just saw a pediatrcian on the news that said the best thing a parent can let his child do is play in the dirt, eat it and roll around with a long haired dog.  This desensatizes the child to allergens and germs. Of couse it is just plain pragmatic to wash your hands after handling raw food, money, using a restroom etc.  I'm old enough to remember being told to steralize baby bottles and formula...then laying the baby on the floor where they grab at every filthy thing in sight then suck on their hands...how rational is that...LOL!  I took one of my grand daughters to day care and the first thing they do when they walk in the door is get out the Lysol antibacterial goop and slather the kids hands with it.  There was a bottle of it on every flat surface...yet half the kids in there were sick and hacking on every one.  Some germs can be a good thing...just sayin'.

Okay...I'm done and once again, JMHO!

Post Edited (vestabula) : 3/10/2012 8:57:23 AM (GMT-7)

thanks all - :) i washed one off tonight and took it after i ran it under water. ha

Gramma,

This is a very old thread and it hasn't seen much action.

If you'd like to start a new thread of your own, we'd like to hear more from you and what you have to say.

With regards to your Lysol situation, perhaps ask your pharmacist and/or physician. Personally, I think that sounds dangerous.

I'm going to lock this thread (due to it being inactive).

Welcome aboard!







M.