FORT BENNING, Ga., (May 18, 2016) -- Each month, bottles after bottles of unused prescription medication reach their expiration date and require disposal at local medical facilities. Martin Army Community Hospital has a place for you to dispose of those medications.
Located in the main lobby of the hospital, is a blue, MedSafe drop box that has been provided to suit the needs of the Fort Benning community.
Recently, as a means of assistance in getting expired and unused prescription medication off the shelves of homes throughout the nation in a save and responsible way, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration designated National Prescription Drug Take-back Day, which was observed on April 28.
During this period, Fort Benning residents dropped off more than 80 pounds of unused medication, which was "very successful," according to Fort Benning medical officials.
"So we kicked off the program on Jan. 6, in response to a directive from our higher headquarters at Army Medical Command that the pharmacy provide a means for patients to dispose of unused medication," said Master Sgt. Charles H. Hall, noncommissioned officer in charge of the pharmacy department. "It was also in concert with patients' concern about where they drop off unused medication."
Hall pointed off that in the past, it was common for patients to discard of medication by flushing it down the toilet, but added that it was not the right way to do it because of environment concerns.
"The need was out there and through our office of the surgeon general consultant, Col. John Spain, who provided the initial outfitting of the receptacle," he said.
Hall explained that it's no accident that installation's only receptacle is located in the hospital's main lobby, across from the pharmacy.
"It's here at the hospital because we can provide around-the-clock observation because we have the administrative officer of the day's desk. The receptacle is bolted to the floor, and it's an amnesty type situation, where patients can drop off 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"Since the program kicked off in January, we have taken 617.8 pounds of medication," Hall said. "So, we're averaging over 100 pounds and we recently participated in the National Prescription Drug Take-Back day on April 28 and we collected 85.8 pounds of medication during that event."
He pointed out a noticeable decrease in the amount of drugs that MACH received during the April 28 Drug take-back campaign than in previous efforts.
"We would have anywhere from 300 to 500 pounds of drugs that we were collecting from the local community, when we were just doing the take-back days, and now it's reversed," he said.
Hall explained that the community is disposing of so much unused medication that the receptacle currently requires to be emptied every five to seven days. He also pointed out that all medication is boxed up and locked inside a pharmacy vault, before being picked up by UPS. Once UPS gets the package, it is taken directly to an incinerator and destroyed.
"It's a great opportunity for Martin Army to partner with the community and turn in unwanted, unused and expired medication," said Lt. Col. Randy Dorsey, MACH's pharmacy department chief. "It's truly a patient safety initiative across (Maneuver Center of Excellence) proper. It allows them to clean out their medication cabinets and keep things away from Family members who may have issues, but it's just a great opportunity and patient safety initiative."
Hall added that the MedSafe will collect any unused medication, but with one stipulation: It cannot be hazardous, such as drug for chemotherapy-type agent or drugs that are contained in needles and require Sharps containers for disposal.
He also urged patients to refrain from placing batteries and other foreign objects in the MedSafe receptacles.
"Ideally, we ask that patients return their medication in the bottle that it came in, but not having that bottle should not keep them from disposing of their unwanted medication. We're not here to figure out what type of medicine is in the bottles. We just take them from here and send them out to be disposal," Hall said.
The MedSafe receptacles are similar to a U.S. Postal Service mailbox in that all medication that is dropped in is only removable by authorized personnel.
"It's a one-way, mailbox-type receptacle. If you try to tamper with it, you're not going to be able to get to it because there's a barrier that blocks access to the medication. Once they put it in there, it's just like the mailbox, it can't be removed."
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