Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana (BCBSMT) is joining Walgreens to expand the availability of year-round safe medication disposal in Montana with safe medication disposal kiosks in select Walgreens locations throughout the state.
The expansion is part of an effort announced last year by leading health care organizations to combat the national opioid abuse crisis by increasing the availability of safe medication disposal kiosks to an additional 900 Walgreens drugstores around the country. When the expansion is complete, kiosks will be available in approximately 1,500 Walgreens stores nationwide.
In addition, safe medication disposal kiosks located throughout Montana are being co-branded with BCBSMT and Walgreens logos to further illustrate the collaboration among the organizations.
“By collaborating with Walgreens, we are proud to support the safe medication disposal units throughout Montana to provide actionable solutions to one of the reasons linked to the crisis of the opioid abuse epidemic – accidental overdose from unused medications,” said Dr. JP Maganito, BCBSMT’s Chief Medical Officer. “We are committed to continue actively pursuing and collaborating with our local providers, organizations, and legislators to combat the opioid abuse epidemic.”
“We are proud to work with organizations from throughout the health care community to make it even easier for people to dispose of their unwanted medications,” said Rick Gates, senior vice president of pharmacy operations, Walgreens. “The expansion of the program throughout Montana is a great example of health care organizations coming together in collaboration to address a real health crisis facing the country.”
Safe medication disposal kiosks allow individuals to safely and conveniently dispose of their unwanted, unused or expired prescriptions, including controlled substances, and over-the-counter medications, at no cost. The kiosks at Walgreens pharmacies are available during regular pharmacy hours and offer one of the best ways to ensure medications are not accidentally used or intentionally misused by someone else.
Safe medication disposal kiosks have collected more than 270 tons of unwanted medications since the program began in 2016. This is an additional 115 tons since the company announced its partnership last fall with leading health care organizations to expand the availability of safe medication disposal kiosks, collections have reached nearly 40% of the organizations’ goal to collect an additional 300 tons of unwanted medication in two years.
To find a Walgreens drug takeback kiosk location near you, visit the Walgreens Store Locator.