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New Medication Disposal Campaign Announced

Medication deactivation pouches
Alex Crichton
Medication deactivation pouches

The Wegmans School of Pharmacy at St. John Fisher College collaborating with the Rochester Area Society of Health System Pharmacists, State Senator Rich Funke, and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals on a unique way to dispose of unused prescription medications.

Dr. Matthew Zak with the School of Pharmacy and president of RASHP, says they're working together to distribute some 7-thousand medication deactivation pouches, that use activated carbon to render the medications useless.

"When added to warm water, the carbon will bind to capsules, pills, liquids, patches that you add to the pouch, rendering the drug irretrievable," he said. "This mechanism not only provides an opportunity to make the drug irretrievable, it's in a 100 percent biodegradeable pouch, which makes it appropriate for the household trash."

Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals is donating the pouches, but Senator Rich Funke, who served on the Joint Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction, says the state may be able to help in this new way to battle addiction.

Sen. Funke says the genius of this initiative is its simplicity
Sen. Funke says the genius of this initiative is its simplicity

He says this is an ingenious way of getting rid of unused prescription medications. 

"For a lot of people I think they're reluctant to go someplace to get rid of it, and it's easier to flush it down the drain.  This is a safe and effective way to get rid of it, and certainly something we would look at the state level to see if there might be some funding available that would help,"  he said.

The Wegmans School of Pharmacy is working with several entities, including Visiting Nurse Hospice and Delphi Drug and Alcohol Council.

Dr.Zak say they are in talks with several other organizations to have the pouch available to the public free of charge.

Here's Dr. Zak demonstrating the pouch: