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JBSA News
NEWS | Feb. 24, 2016

Pharmacy provides drop box for expired, unused medications

359th Medical Support Squadron pharmacy flight commander

In an effort to improve safety among the Joint Base San Antonio community, the JBSA-Randolph clinic pharmacy has installed a secure medicine collection drop box where patients can drop off expired, unused or unwanted medications due to a change in Drug Enforcement Administration regulations.

Patients can now deposit all medications, except sharps or syringes, in the blue steel drop box located in the corner of the lobby by the prescription pickup window. 

Medications play a critical role in treating health conditions. When those medications are no longer needed, it’s important to properly dispose of them to reduce accidental exposure or intentional misuse. According to the DEA, unused medications in homes create a public health and safety concern because they are highly susceptible to accidental ingestion, theft, misuse, and abuse.

“It’s as simple as dumping all your unwanted medication out of the prescription bottle into a zip-lock plastic bag and disposing them into our MedSafe cabinet,” Col. Dana James, 359th Medical Group commander, said.

In the past, patients who wanted to safely dispose of old and unused medications were turned away or had to wait until the bi-annual DEA-sponsored Drug Take Back Day.

“By law, the pharmacy could not legally accept any dispensed prescriptions. The MedSafe drop box definitely meets our patients’ needs,” said Lt. Col. John Lane, 359th Medical Support Squadron commander.

Pharmacy officials recommend medicines be deposited without their containers in the zip lock bags provided next to the drop box and liquid bottles be 4 ounces or less and sealed in a plastic bag before dropping them into the box.

Pharmacy staff will check the MedSafe drop box weekly. Once the box is full, the contents will be shipped to a company licensed by the DEA in the handling of commingled medications for proper disposal.  The DEA’s preferred method of medicine disposal is incineration because it renders the medicine irretrievable.

Proper disposal may prevent accidental poisoning or accidental use of potentially harmful medications that may still be in the home. It also prevents unused medications from cycling back into our water systems, pharmacy officials said.

The MedSafe drop box is accessible during normal duty hours and pharmacy personnel will be available to offer any assistance.

The clinic pharmacy hours are Monday - Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  For questions about safe medication disposal or any other questions pertaining to the pharmacy, call 652-6742.