Sunny days and singing birds are a good reminder to start spring cleaning, and that includes your medicine cabinet.
Bring your expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs to the upcoming Drug Take Back event, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 29 at the Ramstein Kaiserslautern Military Community Center food court or the Wiesbaden Post Exchange.
"Many people don't realize how many medications are still sitting around the house, and that can be dangerous," said Maj. Julie Meek, Deputy Director of Pharmacy for Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. "Properly disposing medication helps keep children and family pets safe, reduces medication abuse in our communities and keeps drinking water safe."
If you cannot make it out to one of the Saturday Take Back events, you can always bring your medication to the Ramstein 86th Medical Group and dispose in the receptacle located in the pharmacy lobby.
Meek added that medication should not be flushed down the toilet or otherwise added to the water supply. If someone must dispose of medication at home, the Food and Drug Administration recommends mixing it with an undesirable substance, like coffee grounds or cat litter. This will be less appealing to children and pets and unrecognizable to people who intentionally look through trash to find medication to abuse.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the majority of prescription drug abusers report in surveys that they get their drugs from friends and family.
Ever wonder who to turn to for questions about your medications?
Turn to your Pharmacy team for any questions you have about medications, interactions, safety and more. Pharmacy staff members will be available at the Drug Take Back events to answer your questions and share information.
Your pharmacist, pharmacy technician and doctor are a powerful team working to ensure patients' medications are selected and managed safely and appropriately.
"Every time you pick up a prescription, our pharmacy team checks that the information is complete, ensures the new medication will not interact with previous medications and verifies that the medication and dosage are appropriate for your health condition," said Meek.
"We want our patients to take an active role in their healthcare by bringing a list of all their medications to every appointment," said Meek. "We even need to know about non-prescription medication, herbal products, vitamins and supplements to keep you safe."
Medication list wallet cards are available at every Army Medicine pharmacy to conveniently keep your medication list with you at all times.
(Contributing to this story: Julia Gannon, Medication Safety Officer; Stacy Sanning, LRMC Public Affairs)
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