MEDICATION
SAFETY
MEDICATION
SAFETY.
West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute, DisposeRx® and Fruth Pharmacy Partner on Medication Safety and Disposal Campaign.
WV DII & Fruth Pharmacy
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As a result of COVID-19, we have gone back to the roots of the “Rex™” Program—innovation. Don’t Keep Rx Around™ will be live streaming in schools throughout West Virginia during 2020 and 2021.
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In addition, we have partnered with Fruth Pharmacy to educate persons across the life span—children, parents, and grandparents—about the importance of safe medication use, storage, and disposal.
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The WV DII is working with Fruth to develop a pilot program for 2021 that will provide both a medication disposal kit and naloxone to patients when an opioid is dispensed. Research indicates that safe medication disposal (removing expired and unused medications from the home) and a co-prescription of naloxone with opioid prescriptions reduces fatal and non-fatal overdoes.
The WV DII has a number of resources for all generations on safe medication use and disposal. This includes online courses, printable materials, medication disposal bags, and training on safe naloxone use and medically assisted treatment (MAT) for those recovering from substance use disorder (SUD).
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Poison Prevention Partnership
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Online Courses
The WV DII has online courses on medication safety for parents and grandparents on how to make their home “medication safe.” In addition, we offer FREE courses on the benefits and efficacy of MAT for health care providers as well as online training for safe use and administration of the opioid overdose reversal drug, Naloxone.
Downloadable Materials
We offer a number of downloadable medication safety resources for persons of all ages via our website. This includes a safety brochure for parents on the dangers of misusing over the counter or (OTC) medication as well as information on talking to children (from pre-k to young adult) about the dangers of sharing prescription and non-prescription medications. We also offer resources regarding safe medication disposal in an effort to get expired or unused medications out of homes where they are likely to be misused or abused.
Medication Disposal Kits
In 2020, we partnered with Fruth Pharmacy to educate persons across the lifespan—children, parents/grandparents and adults—about the importance of safe medication use, storage and disposal. Medication Disposal Kits (or bags) are available for FREE at all 28 Fruth locations throughout West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. These kits destroy up to 40 pills and can safely be discarded in the trash. We have also partnered with many county school boards to make these bags available to parents and grandparents through their child’s school. To date, WV DII estimates these bags have gotten over 150,000 expired or unused pills out of homes.
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Co-Prescribing
Physicians are able to prescribe naloxone (an opioid reversal drug) at the time they prescribe any opioid. Learn more about Co-Prescribing by clicking here!
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A Conversation on Medication Safety
Watch our conversation on Medication Safety! Sponsored by WV DII & DisposeRx® Jim Carroll, former Director of the White House Office of National Drug Policy (ONDCP) Uttam Dhillon, former director of INTERPOL Washington—The U.S. National Census Bureau and Former Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration William Simpson, Co-Founder, President & CEO, DisposeRx®