Sedgwick routinely reminds clients and colleagues about the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) National Prescription Drug Take Back Days. The next Take Back Day will be Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. In 2010, the DEA started organizing communities and local law enforcement to work together for safe disposal of prescription drugs in an effort to keep unnecessary and potentially hazardous or deadly prescription drugs out of homes and neighborhoods.

The Take Back initiative is part of the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010. The Act was passed to help reduce diversion throughout the U.S. and curtail the opioid epidemic. Since then, communities nationwide have safely disposed of millions of pounds of unwanted prescription drugs. According to the DEA, more than 5,300 collection sites assisted with the last Take Back Day in October 2017, which resulted in the disposal of 912,000 pounds of medications. For more details on the success of the program and the upcoming Take Back Day, see the DEA’s latest press release.

 If you have unwanted drugs, then you can help. The disposal service is completely anonymous and there is no charge for it. Contact the DEA’s call center at 800.882.9539 or check the DEA’s website for your local collection locations.

 The service is a simple way to make our communities safer, including children and pets that could be harmed or killed by consuming medication not intended for them or discarded in an unsafe manner. We appreciate everyone’s participation.

  Dr. Paul Peak, Director Clinical Pharmacy