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    Walgreens implements safe drug disposal in all of its pharmacies

    June 25, 2019
    Photo by Russell H. Dimond
    Pills 5d1397d7a8867

    Walgreens has announced it will provide year-round drug disposal options in all of its pharmacies nationwide, at no cost to customers. To complement its existing national effort to make the disposal of unwanted medications safer, easier and more convenient, all Walgreens pharmacies that do not currently offer a safe medication disposal kiosk now offer DisposeRx packets or other drug disposal options, available upon request for customers to safely discard their unwanted medications at home.

    “Our passion at DisposeRx is to help stop the epidemic of drug overdoses and deaths that begins with unused prescriptions, John Holaday, Chairman and CEO of DisposeRx, told Healthcare Purchasing News. “Quite often, during hospital discharges, patients are sent home with prescriptions, or they’re given prescriptions that need to be filled and picked up at a pharmacy after being discharged. Now, if those prescriptions are picked up at Walgreens and other leading pharmacies, patients can ask for DisposeRx, and if there are leftover medications, they can neutralize the pills…within the medication vial…and safely discard them in the trash.”

    Dispose Rx How To Info 2

    DisposeRx packets, according to the manufacturer, contain a blend of proprietary solidifying materials that provide a site-of-use solution for the disposal of medication. When water and the DisposeRx powder are added to unwanted medications in the prescription vial and shaken, the drugs are rendered unavailable and unusable, allowing for the safe disposal at home.

    DisposeRx packets are the most recent addition to Walgreens ongoing and comprehensive effort to combat the opioid epidemic. Walgreens offers safe medication disposal kiosks in 1400 of its pharmacies across 46 states and Washington, D.C., which have collected and led to the safe disposal of more than 1.2 million pounds of unwanted prescriptions, including controlled substances and other medications.

    Both resources make the disposal of medications easier and more convenient, while helping to reduce the misuse of medications and the rise in overdose deaths. The company has also expanded its use of secure time delay safes in more than 6,500 of its pharmacies across 42 states and Washington, D.C. designed to prevent diversion of controlled substances by averting the accessibility of narcotic medications by unauthorized individuals.

    By combining the availability of a take home drug disposal option with our existing safe medication disposal kiosks, 78 percent of Americans now live within 5 miles of a drug disposal option conveniently available in every Walgreens pharmacy,” said Lisa Badgley, Walgreens senior vice president of pharmacy and retail operations in a statement.

    “The discharged patients and caregivers won’t have to rely on take-back days or kiosks that require collection of unused drugs since DisposeRx is a convenient, eco-friendly way to get rid of leftover drugs at home,” Holaday added.