Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Local pharmacy has participated since the project’s inception, more Panhandle pharmacies sought
Bemis Drug, owned and operated by Mike Bemis, is once again participating in the Nebraska Statewide Pharmaceutical Disposal Project, as it has since the inception of the project in 2012, according to pharmacist Jordan Autrey.
According to a recent news release, the Nebraska Pharmacists Association was awarded a $280,000 grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust for “Preventing Poisoning, Pollution and Prescription Drug Overdose for a Healthier Nebraska.”
The project is one of the 118 projects receiving $18,799,900 in grant awards from the Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET) this year. The Nebraska Pharmacists Association has also received $300,000 from a legislative appropriation through the Department of Health and Human Services, according to Wheeler.
The Nebraska Medication Education for Disposal Strategies (MEDS) Coalition and the Nebraska Pharmacists Association (NPA) have been addressing the safety concerns of unused medication for over 7 years. Increasing deaths due to drug overdose and environmental impacts are the driving forces for the establishment of the Coalition.
“We have one container to store the disposed medications and then they are sealed and mailed to Sharps Compliances to dispose of them,” Autrey said.
Pharmacies participating in the Nebraska MEDS project accept leftover, unused, and expired medications to help divert pharmaceutical waste from landfills and water sources by offering an alternative to flushing or trashing. Public health is protected through this project by removing medications from patients’ homes as a potential source of poisoning and overdose.
Though the local pharmacy and another in Sidney participate in the program, there are still Panhandle pharmacies that do not. Currently, the NPA is supplying 292 pharmacies statewide with containers to collect unused medications funded by a grant from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. Since the take-back project began in August 2012, 32,162 pounds of medications have been collected and properly disposed.
“We would love to get the pharmacies in Scottsbluff and Gering involved.” stated Jessica Wheeler, Program Manager of The Groundwater Foundation, “Patients can certainly talk to their pharmacists about enrolling in the MEDS project.”
The Nebraska MEDS Coalition’s message is simple: take back your leftover, unused, and expired medications to a participating pharmacy today. Find a pharmacy near you at leftovermeds.com.