04/19/2018

CVS Installs Medication-disposal Units in 28 Pharmacies Throughout Ohio

OPA Executive Director Ernest Boyd heralds the action

CVS Health announced Thursday that it has installed medication-disposal units in 28 pharmacies throughout Ohio as part of a strategy developed in September to help battle opioid abuse.

The units — including six located in central Ohio — are bolted down, resemble mailboxes and are part of a plan to install the devices in 750 stores nationwide. Nicole Harrington, a senior director on CVS Health’s pharmacy professional services team, said the boxes allow patients to dispose of unneeded medication in a secure and environmentally friendly way.

Ernest Boyd, executive director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association, said pharmacies were authorized to install the units after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration made changes to disposal laws in 2014. “I’m really glad they’re doing it. I truly am,” Boyd said. “It’s a gift to the public.”

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Columbus Dispatch.