The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week opened a public comment period on potential new standards for in-home opioid disposal products, part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

Currently, companies that sell opioid painkillers are required to provide prepaid mail-back envelopes to outpatient pharmacies and other dispensers, a news release said. The FDA is now considering whether to require opioid manufacturers, through these dispensers, to also make in-home disposal systems available.

“Having unused opioids laying around at home can be a significant risk to those struggling with opioids and can be a gateway for opioid-naïve family members,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H. said in the release “We need to develop creative ways to address opioid misuse and abuse.”

The agency currently recommends that consumers drop off unused opioids at drug take-back locations or mail them back using prepaid envelopes provided by pharmacies. In certain cases, the FDA also allows flushing high-risk medications down the toilet. A 2017 study in the journal Science of Total Environment concluded that flushing unused opioids carries a “negligible eco-toxicological risk.”

The Request for Information, or RFI, invites input from industry, health care providers, and advocacy groups on what criteria should guide in-home disposal kits. The effort is in line with the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025, which requires the FDA to issue guidance for safe in-home disposal. It also supports President Trump’s Great American Recovery initiative.

Responses to the RFI are due by April 6. Comments can be submitted online at https://tinyurl.com/msxvku72.