I am passing along this reply that was kindly forwarded by our colleague,
Felicity Pope - an independent consultant-curator in health/medicine
museums, Toronto, Canada.

This is what I've always done: if the drugs are in original labelled
containers which are securely closed then keep them; if the the drugs are in

unlabelled containers (you don't know what the contents are) then throw them

out; if the lids/corks/closures are insecure and bubbling (i.e active)
substances or corrosive stufff is coming out then discard the entire object.

The objects can be documented photographically; try to enlist a pharmacist
to dispose of unknown and possibly dangerous substances for you. Keep them
in locked storage or display in locked cases where they are inaccessible to
the public. There is an excellent issue of Caduceus
(1991,vol.VII,no.II)containing several articles about the dangers
potentially posed by collections to museum staff.

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