Memorial Community Pharmacy has established a convenient medication take-back program for easy disposal of leftover, unused and out-of-date prescription and over-the counter medications.
In an effort to help reduce the risk of drugs in the home that can potentially harm children, teens or adults, the Pharmacy has set up a secure, safe drop-off location in its retail service area located at 1900 State Street in Chester, IL.
Unused medications in the home are a source of drug abuse in millions of homes, with the opioid crisis in the United States fueled in part by that availability: 47% of misused prescription pain relievers are given by, bought from or taken from a friend or relative. On average, an American dies of a drug overdose every 5 minutes.
“We want to provide the individuals in our community with the safe, secure opportunity to clean out their medicine cabinets and make their homes and communities safer,” said Kathy Winkler, Director of Pharmacy at Memorial Hospital. “We want to remind people that they should not flush drugs down the toilet. Traces of drugs can appear in community drinking water. Our drug disposal unit, which is easily accessible in the pharmacy, is a great answer to that problem and it’s simple to do. All they do is just come in, look for the big green receptacle and take it from there. Drugs can be dropped off with no questions asked.”
There are some things that cannot be taken in the receptacle, such as inhalers and needles, but pharmacy staff will be on hand to help determine what to do. The collection receptacle will be available in the pharmacy at Memorial Hospital, Monday-Friday 7:00am-5:30pm. Starting May 6, the Pharmacy will be open on Saturdays from 9:00am-1:00pm, extending their retail service hours and drug box access time.
Memorial Community Pharmacy partnered with Inmar to manage this drug take-back program. The company has a long history as the industry leader in handling prescription and over-the-counter drug returns safely, securely and discreetly for major and regional chain drug stores as well as independent pharmacies and hospitals across the U.S.