Northwell Health will be opening up 12 locations that will participate in this year’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 27. Community members are encouraged to drop off their unused and expired medications to dispose of them in a safe and clean way.
Partnering with local law enforcement and the DEA, the 12 locations will have secure receptacles at the hospitals for people to remove their leftover medications from their homes.
From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., six Long Island hospitals will be participating out of the 12, which consist of Manhattan and Westchester County locations. The local drop off boxes will be at; Huntington Hospital, Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson, North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park and Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.
“When these medications remain in people’s medicine cabinets, they create an avenue of access, and can potentially be used for purposes other than their prescribed intent,” said Sandeep Kapoor, MD, director of Northwell Health’s screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment. “Together, we can assist our communities as we all work to navigate the substance use crisis we are facing.”
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 70,000 people died of a drug overdose in the U.S. in 2017. National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is organized by the DEA and happens twice a year. This past October, Northwell collected roughly 330 pounds of unused prescriptions from the community.