Our new Ohio disposal units were rolled out at a recent event at a CVS Pharmacy in Toledo, which was attended by city officials, including Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz (far left) and Police Chief George Kral (far right).
Our enterprise-wide efforts to help prevent the misuse and abuse of opioids nationwide include making safe disposal options for unused or unwanted medications readily accessible to all of our CVS Pharmacy customers.
That’s why we’re working to expand our safe medication disposal program to more locations nationwide, include, most recently, in Ohio, where we added disposal units in 53 CVS Pharmacy stores in communities across the state, including Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown.
“When patients leave unused medications, especially opioids, in a medicine cabinet, there is a risk that those medications might be misused or diverted, which is why we have worked to help increase access to and awareness of safe medication disposal options in the communities we serve,” said William Cuffari, R.Ph., and District Leader for CVS Pharmacy. “Providing more options for the proper disposal of unused medications is just one of the ways that CVS Health is working to help combat opioid misuse, in Ohio and across the country.”
This most recent expansion brings the total disposal units in CVS Pharmacy stores in Ohio to 82. Nationwide, we’ve installed more than 1,300 in-store safe medication disposal units, and donated more than 970 units to community organizations like police departments.
We will continue to roll out additional safe medication disposal units across the country through the end of 2019, as part of a commitment announced at the end of last year to help provide more disposal options in our communities. We’ve also partnered with Google Maps to make it easier for consumers to find year-round medication disposal options.
Our safe medication disposal program is just one of many ways we’re working with local communities to help prevent and address prescription misuse. Our Pharmacists Teach program brings CVS pharmacists to schools across the country to talk to students and parents about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. More than 500,000 students across the country, including over 19,000 in Ohio, have participated in the program.
We’ve worked with 48 states including Ohio and Washington, DC to increase access to the opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone, also known as Narcan. Patients can obtain this potentially life-saving medication, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, without an individual prescription in these states.