Wing expands medicine disposal program to JBSA-Lackland

The 59th Medical Wing is expanding its medicine disposal program, a patient safety initiative allowing beneficiaries to drop off unused medications year round, to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.

Thanks to a recent change in Drug Enforcement Administration regulations, patients can now drop off expired, unused, or unwanted medications at secure medication collection points at the JBSA-Lackland Satellite Pharmacy, the Reid Clinic Pharmacy, and at the Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center Pharmacy lobby area. Blue steel bins called MedSafe cabinets secure the unwanted medications.

“Before this new regulation, no pharmacy could legally accept any dispensed prescriptions. The MedSafe cabinet is much more convenient for our patients,” said Lt. Col. Rodney Jorstad, pharmacy flight commander.

Medications play a critical role in health care. When those medications are no longer needed, it is important to properly dispose of them to reduce accidental exposure, intentional misuse, or harm to the environment. Unused medications in homes create a public health and safety concern because they are highly susceptible to accidental ingestion, theft, misuse, and abuse, according to the DEA.

In the past, patients who brought expired, unused, or unwanted medications to dispose of to the pharmacy were turned away or had to wait for the bi-annual DEA-sponsored Drug Take Back Day.

Patients can deposit unused medication, without containers, in the MedSafe, using a plastic bag provided next to the cabinet. Liquid bottles must be 4 ounces or less and sealed in a plastic bag. The bins are not for sharps, syringes or inhalers.

Once the MedSafe cabinets are full, the 59th MDW ships the contents to a company licensed by the DEA to handle and properly dispose of medications. The DEA’s preferred method of disposal is incineration because it renders the medicine irretrievable. In addition, incineration prevents the medications from entering our water system.

The MedSafe cabinets are accessible at each pharmacy during normal duty hours: Satellite Pharmacy, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Reid Clinic, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the Wilford Hall Pharmacy lobby, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. A MedSafe cabinet is also available at the Randolph Clinic Pharmacy on JBSA-Randolph, Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.