Deposit Unneeded, Unwanted and Expired Medications at Seven Bassett Healthcare Network Locations During Drug Take Back Week

April 22 through April 30, 2022, Bassett Healthcare Network is holding its annual Drug Take Back Week. It is an ideal time for people to clean out their medicine cabinets and bring any unneeded, unwanted and expired medications to Bassett locations for safe disposal. Bassett has special collection kiosks at seven different locations, four of which (starred below) are new within the last six months:

Outpatient Clinic Pharmacy in Cooperstown
FoxCare Pharmacy at FoxCare Center in Oneonta
Outpatient Pharmacy at O’Connor Hospital in Delhi
AO Fox Hospital lobby in Oneonta *
AO Fox Tri-Town Hospital lobby in Sidney *
Little Falls Hospital lobby *
Cobleskill Regional Hospital lobby *

With these sites, Bassett Healthcare Network has become one of the only health systems in the country that has integrated medication return and safe disposal. Bassett hopes to collect 4,000 pounds of unused medications in 2022. This figure is based on the estimate that 30%-40% of prescribed drugs in the US go unused.

The kiosks, available thanks to a partnership with the MED-Project (https://med-project.org/), are permanent fixtures available year-round. However, Bassett places special emphasis on this service each spring during the week between Earth Day (April 22, 2022) and National Prescription Drug Take Back Day (April 30, 2022).

Some things to note about Bassett’s drug take back program:

This service is open to the public—you do not need to be a Bassett patient to participate.
The program covers over-the-counter, prescription, and veterinary (pet) medications.
Only pills and liquids can be deposited in the kiosks. Inhalers and sprays should be brought to one of the pharmacy locations to be collected at the pharmacy window.
This program does not accept needles and other sharps. Patients should ask their primary care provider about properly disposing of sharps.
Participants should only deposit medications prescribed to themselves, a dependent, or someone who is deceased.
Medications do not need to be in their original containers.

Why Prescription Drug Collection is Important

If medications are not disposed of properly, they pose a danger to our communities and the environment.

Thousands of Americans call poison control lines, get admitted to the hospital, or die each year due to home medication errors or accidental consumption. Eliminating unneeded medications can save lives—especially those of children, elderly people and pets.
Prescribed painkillers are often sought out by people struggling with addiction. Disposing of unneeded pain medications can help fight the opioid epidemic.
Medications dumped in landfills or flushed down toilets contaminate soil, groundwater, rivers and oceans. Returning drugs to hospitals and pharmacies to be properly disposed of protects wildlife and community water supplies.

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