By LOIS KINDLE
Keeping expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs in your home is simply a bad idea. It can lead to accidental overdoses, medication mix-ups and interactions that can have deadly results.
It’s not only the intended user who can be harmed.
“As a former ER nurse, I’ve seen how kids get into their grandparents medications by accident – or not – and they end up with an overdose or adverse reaction,” said Cathy Edmisten, HCA Florida South Shore Hospital CEO. “And by hanging on to medications they no longer need, it’s easy for seniors to get confused, take the wrong medication and end up in the emergency room.”
LOIS KINDLE FILE PHOTO
Every Operation Medicine Cabinet collection averages around 900 pounds of medication that could otherwise have ended up harming an intended or unintended user or being disposed of improperly and ending up in the county’s water supply.
South Shore Hospital is partnering with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Home Instead Senior Care Sun City Center to bring Operation Medicine Cabinet to the greater Sun City Center area Friday, April 5, to give residents the opportunity to clean out their medicine cabinets and have them safely destroyed.
HCSO Master Deputy Jeff Merry and Community Service Aide Shelby Hillman will be on hand from 8 a.m. to noon in the South Shore Hospital breezeway to ensure all expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs, vitamins or supplements, sharps and pet meds turned in are properly handled and taken into custody for later incineration.
It’s easy to participate. Simply throw everything in a bag or box and drive over to the hospital.
“Everything is accepted as is. You don’t have to empty bottles or containers or remove labels,” Merry said. “You don’t have to get out of your car. Just drive through the breezeway, and we’ll take care of the rest.”
“Operation Medicine Cabinet is strictly confidential,” he continued. “We don’t ask questions. Everything we get goes into larger boxes supplied by Home Instead Senior Care Sun City Center. It’s sealed into evidence and when the event ends, all of the boxes are delivered by truck directly to the District II Command Office in Tampa to be securely stored until they’re destroyed.
According to both the CDC and National Institutes for Health, drug take-back programs like Operation Medicine Cabinet are the most environmentally friendly way to dispose of prescription drugs. Medications flushed away in toilets or poured down drains enter the sewage system, where they can potentially leak into our fresh water supply. Even throwing drugs away in the trash can lead to seepage into groundwater tables.
So whether you do it to protect yourself and your loved ones, ensure your medications don’t get into the hands of house guests or hired help or to protect the environment, just take the opportunity to participate.
Operation Medicine Cabinet in Sun City Center is HCSO’s only remaining drug take-back program in Hillsborough County.
The program originally began in Sun City Center 18 years ago, and Merry has supervised the program since late 2015. Since his arrival, the twice-a-year effort has collected more than seven tons of medications that could have ended up elsewhere.
Last December alone, residents turned in 35 boxes containing 938 pounds of drugs.
Operation Medicine Chest will also be at the Freedom Plaza auditorium from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Friday, April 5. Both events are open to anyone in southern Hillsborough County.
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
HCSO Master Deputy Jeff Merry will be waiting to accept your expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs, vitamins or supplements, sharps and pet meds during Operation Medicine Cabinet, Friday, April 5, 8 a.m. to noon at HCA Florida South Shore Hospital and 12:30 to 2 p.m. at the Freedom Plaza auditorium, Sun City Center.
Residents can always drop off small quantities of pills or capsules at the Dist. 4 Command office, 508 33rd St. SE, Ruskin.
Liquids and sharps are prohibited there.
For more information, call Merry at 813-242-5525.
IF YOU GO
WHO: HCSO, South Shore Hospital and Home Instead Senior Care Sun City Center
WHAT: Operation Medication Cabinet take-back event for prescription drugs and other medications
WHEN: Friday, April 5
WHERE: 8 a.m. to noon, South Shore Hospital, 4016 State Road 674, Sun City Center and 12:30 to 2 p.m., Freedom Plaza auditorium, 1010 American Eagle Blvd., Sun City Center
COST: Free to all South Shore residents