By Jamie Barrie I am not sure if you are like me, but as I get older I find that my medicine cabinets are starting to fill up with old and expired medication that I have not used and no longer want to keep around in the house. Well CVS Health and Walgreens have a solution, they are installing machines for prescription drugs disposal in their drugstores. Consumers simply drop the unwanted medication into what looks like a mailbox. This is not new for Walgreens as the company started adding drug disposal units in 2016 and now has 600 and has collected 155 tons of medications since the program
began. Walgreens has now partnered with AmerisourceBergen, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Pfizer and Prime Therapeutics to add kiosks to another 900 stores. Once the drugs are collected, Stericycle, a company specializing in disposing of regulated substances like pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, removes the drugs and incinerates them. CVS Health is in the process of installing 750 kiosks to its stores which is no easy task as installing each unit takes time and planning to make sure it complies with regulations, said Tom Davis, CVS Health’s vice president of pharmacy pro- fessional services. They must be bolted into the floor so people can’t pick them up, they need to be locked at all times and when they’re emptied and sent to a disposal company they must comply with the DEA’s protocols, among other requirements, he said. On April 28, the DEA will sponsor its semi-annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day when people can bring their leftover prescription drugs to police departments, drugstores and other collection sites.
81
APRIL 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs