SVT Health & Wellness Taking Back Unwanted Prescription Drugs

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

January 10, 2013

SVT HEALTH & WELLNESS TAKING BACK UNWANTED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS JANUARY 25^TH

HOMER, ALASKA – On Friday, January 25th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., SVT Health & Wellness and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your medications for disposal to SVT Health & Wellness Homer Health Center at 880 East End Road, or to the SVT Health & Wellness Clinic in Seldovia at 206 Main Street. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last April, Americans turned in 552,161 pounds—276 tons—of prescription drugs at more than 5,600 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,300 state and local law enforcement partners. In its four previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in more than 1.5 million pounds—nearly 775 tons—of pills.

“This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue,” SVT Health & Wellness’ Public Relations Director Ian McGaughey said. “Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse.”

Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Four days after the first event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances. DEA is drafting regulations to implement the Act. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies like SVT Health & Wellness and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.

For more information, please contact Ian McGaughey, Public Relations and Marketing Director at 435-3266 or imcgaughey@svt.org.