Humility of Mary to Host Drug Take-Back Event

YOUNGSTOWN – Humility of Mary Health Partners, as part of National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, will collect unused prescription medications from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 28 at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown and St. Joseph Health Center in Warren.

Unused and expired prescription drugs can be dropped off at drive-through collection sites on the Belmont Avenue ramp at St. Elizabeth and at the main entrance at St. Joseph. Participation is free and anonymous – no questions asked.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) introduced Drug Take-Back Day in
2009 in an effort to keep potentially dangerous prescription drugs from being misused or disposed of improperly.

Unused prescription medications are highly susceptible to misuse, abuse and improper disposal, reports Robert Martin, who is organizing HMHP’s drug take-back program.
Martin is an officer with the HMHP police department.

Abuse of prescription medications is alarmingly high in the United States, as is the rate of accidental poisonings and overdoses, Martin observes. The source of most of these accidental poisonings and overdoses, he says, is unused prescription medications. In addition, improper disposal of these medications – flushing them down the drain or sending them to a landfill – poses hazards to the environment.

Participants taking part in the DEA’s prescription drug take-back program last fall collectively turned in more than 377,086 pounds – more than 188 tons – of unwanted and expired medications at 5,327 take-back locations throughout the United States.

Collection protocols:
• Participation is anonymous. No identification is required and no
questions will be asked.
• Medications need not be in original containers. If medication is
disposed of in its original container, identifying information should
be removed.
• Liquid medications, intravenous solutions, injectible drugs and
syringes will not be accepted.

About Humility of Mary Health Partners

Humility of Mary Health Partners is an integrated health system located in the Youngstown/Warren area. It is a region of Catholic Health Partners
(CHP) in Cincinnati, the largest health system in Ohio and one of the largest Catholic health systems in the United States. HMHP provides a full spectrum of health care services, including inpatient, outpatient, emergency, urgent care, home care and long-term care. Members are St.
Elizabeth Health Center, St. Joseph Health Center, St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center, HM Home Health Services, The Assumption Village, Humility House, Hospice of the Valley and Laurel Lake. Learn more about HMHP online at www.HMpartners.org.