The Salisbury office of Home Instead Senior Care, along with Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, The Medicine Shoppe and Salisbury Police Department have scheduled Operation Medicine Cabinet for Saturday, Oct. 29, 9 a.m. to noon to help people dispose of any expired or no longer used prescriptions and over-the- counter medications. The event will be held at The Medicine Shoppe, 1357 W. Innes St.
Seniors and their family members can drive up through the Medicine Shoppe’s parking lot where the Salisbury Police Department will be on hand to oversee the drop-off of medications. After the event, the medications collected will be properly disposed of. Once all of the medications are collected, they will be weighed by the police department before they are destroyed.
In April 2011, more than 80 pounds of medication were incinerated. We will also have a document shredding company on site that will shred up to one box of any personal documents you may have. Volunteers from Home Instead Senior Care, Rufty-Holmes Senior Center and the Medicine Shoppe will be on hand to assist. Gift bags will be given out while supplies last.
“This program is a way to help protect seniors from accidentally using expired medications as well as safeguarding them from the potential for theft of medications from their homes,” said Jena Hare, co-owner of the Home Instead Senior Care Salisbury office. “The project also can help protect the environment including pets and other animals by providing a safe way to dispose of prescription drugs before they are introduced into landfills or the water supply.”
The average senior takes four to six different prescriptions a day and refills their prescriptions 12 to 17 times a year, according to the health-care company Arcadia Healthcare. Furthermore, 28 percent of geriatric hospitalizations are attributed to adverse reactions, the group said.
For more information about the project, contact Ashley Sheley at 704-636-2010.