WOONSOCKET – CVS Health Corp. has plans to expand its offering of safe disposal units for unwanted and expired medication nationwide, as part of efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, the company announced Thursday.
The company currently has disposal units at 1,700 CVS Pharmacy locations and plans to add an additional 1,000 locations by the start of 2020. The company said it also has donated 990 units to law enforcement to date, with plans to donate another 400 units.
Diversity matters at Amgen
We believe our differences lead to better science and better business outcomes, enabling us to…
Learn More
The company said it has 15 locations with safe disposal units in Rhode Island and has donated 19 units to Rhode Island law enforcement, resulting in the disposal of 17,000 pounds of unwanted medication.
The company said it is still evaluating potential sites for new disposal units.
“Our safe medication disposal efforts allow people to easily get rid of unneeded medications – including controlled substances – at CVS Pharmacy and other locations in their community, getting opioids out of medicine cabinets where they could be diverted or misused,” said Thomas Moriarty, chief policy and external affairs officer at CVS Health, in a statement. “Providing more options for proper disposal of unused medications in our stores and in the home is just one of the ways we’re working to help combat prescription opioid misuse and build healthier communities.”
The company also said starting in 2020, CVS Pharmacy locations that do not offer a safe medication disposal kiosk will begin to offer DisposeRx packets at no cost to patients filling an opioid prescription for the first time. When powder from the packets is mixed with water and added to a pill bottle with unwanted prescription medications, the combination produces a biodegradable gel, allowing for safe disposal at home, according to a news release.
The disposal units already in use have collected more than 1.1 million pounds of medications to date.
