MedStar Health Hospitals Participate in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday October 29, 2022

COLUMBIA, Md. - MedStar Health hospitals are participating in a national effort by the Drug Enforcement Administration to help the community dispose of unwanted prescription drugs, like opioids, to prevent misuse, accidental poisoning, and protect the environment. Disposal is free, confidential, and safe.

The DEA’s 23rd National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is Saturday October 29, 2022, from 10am – 2 pm.

“We hope this effort will help to address the overdose crisis which is a serious public health issue,” says Bonnie Levin, PharmD, MBA, FASHP and Vice President of Pharmacy Services for MedStar Health. “We know from studies that when people abuse or overdose on prescription drugs, those medications were often acquired from the home medicine cabinet, a friend or a family member.”

MedStar Health drop off locations for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day include MedStar Washington Hospital Center, MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital drive thru, MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, and MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital. Please see signage at hospital entrance for the exact locations.

The event is open to anyone in the community who has unwanted prescription, non-prescription drugs or pet medications that need to be disposed of anonymously and safely.

Important tips:

• Accepted items include prescription and non-prescription tablets and capsules, ointments and creams, liquid suspensions, inhalers, and medications for pets

• In addition to being an important patient safety issue, there are environmental benefits to the proper disposal of prescription and over-the-counter medications, which people often flush down the toilet.

• Unwanted drugs could be stored in the medicine cabinets of surgical patients who were prescribed opioids for pain, cancer patients as well as families who recently lost a loved one who was prescribed pain medications.

• Receptacles at the above MedStar Health locations and many more are available year-round. To find the DEA drop-off collection location closest to you, please visit takebackday.dea.gov.

According to the DEA, Take Back Day in April 2022 netted 360 tons of unwanted prescription medications at 5,144 collection sites across the United States. The total all time weight collected is 7,995 tons in the past 22 Take Back Day events.