MAYWOOD, IL – Loyola Medicine’s Opioid Task Force, in partnership with the Cook County Sheriff’s Department, is organizing a Medication Take Back Day for community members, patients and colleagues to safely dispose of their old medications.
The event will take place on Friday, June 11 from 10 am – 2 pm in the Loyola Outpatient Center (2160 S. First Ave., Maywood). Loyola Medicine has held this event several times throughout past years, collecting unused, expired or unwanted prescription medications, insulin vials, over-the-counter medications and herbals, veterinary medications and medication patches. No illicit drugs, liquid medications, aerosols/inhalers will be accepted. The service is free and anonymous.
“This event can make a huge impact in our local communities,” said Megan Rech, PharmD, co-chair of the Opioid Task Force for Loyola Medicine. “Providing a safe, convenient and responsible way to dispose of old medications, especially opioids, benefits the health and safety of the whole community.”
Unused or expired prescription medications are a public safety issue, leading to potential accidental poisoning, misuse and overdose. Proper disposal of unused drugs saves lives and protects the environment.
In 2017, an estimated 18 million people misused prescription drugs, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, with 18-25 year olds reporting the highest percentages of misuse. Prescription medications are the leading cause of accidental poisoning in children. Senior citizens also are at elevated risk for misuse and mistakes.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Department initiated the Prescription Drug Take Back Program in 2012 and established permanent collection sites at each of the Cook County suburban courthouses as well as the Criminal Court Building in Chicago. The program has expanded to more than 80 local law enforcement and local government partners.
For more information on preventing prescription drug misuse, go to the following websites:
Drug Disposal Guidelines
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Visit the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) website for more valuable information about DEA’s National Take-Back Initiative.
For more information on the safe disposal of pharmaceuticals, go to the following websites:
Food and Drug Administration
Disposal of Unused Medicines: What You Should Know
How to Dispose of Unused Medicines
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About Loyola Medicine
Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago’s western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and MacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from more than 1,800 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties. Loyola is a 547-licensed-bed hospital in Maywood that includes the William G. & Mary A. Ryan Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, a Level 1 trauma center, Illinois’s largest burn center, a certified comprehensive stroke center and a children’s hospital. Loyola also trains the next generation of caregivers through its academic affiliation with Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing. Gottlieb is a 247-licensed-bed community hospital in Melrose Park with the newly renovated Judd A. Weinberg Emergency Department, the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research facility at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center. MacNeal is a 374-licensed-bed teaching hospital in Berwyn with advanced medical, surgical and psychiatric services, acute rehabilitation, an inpatient skilled nursing facility and a 68-bed behavioral health program and community clinics. Loyola Medical Group, a team of primary and specialty care physicians, offers care at over 15 Chicago-area locations. For more information, visit loyolamedicine.org. You can also follow Loyola Medicine on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic health care delivery systems in the nation, serving diverse communities that include more than 30 million people across 22 states. Trinity Health includes 92 hospitals, as well as 100 continuing care locations that include PACE programs, senior living facilities, and home care and hospice services. Its continuing care programs provide nearly 2.5 million visits annually. Based in Livonia, Mich., and with annual operating revenues of $18.8 billion and assets of $30.5 billion, the organization returns $1.3 billion to its communities annually in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. Trinity Health employs about 123,000 colleagues, including 6,800 employed physicians and clinicians. Committed to those who are poor and underserved in its communities, Trinity Health is known for its focus on the country’s aging population. As a single, unified ministry, the organization is the innovator of Senior Emergency Departments, the largest not-for-profit provider of home health care services — ranked by number of visits — in the nation, as well as the nation’s leading provider of PACE (Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly) based on the number of available programs. For more information, visit trinity-health.org. You can also follow Trinity Health on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.
