Local Pharmacist Launches Drug Give-Back Service

The issue of expired medications—generally those over a year old—hit the headlines recently with last week's fourth annual Drug Enforcement Administration National Take Back Day. A Parsippany pharmacist, inspired by the idea, is taking action to give area residents a free and easy way to clear their medicine cabinets and keep them safe from old and unused pharmaceutical drugs.

Independent pharmacist of launched his own drug give-back program Wednesday.

"I heard about the law enforcement event the week before," Rehman said. "I was at that time looking into the Dispose My Meds program offered by the National Community Pharmacists Association. It's also sponsored by Sharps Compliance."

He said Sharps Compliance has trained employees to handle the final disposal of old drugs.

The NCPA program was established to encourage consumers to turn to community pharmacists to ensure expired medications are disposed of properly.

"I'm Lake Hiawatha's local community pharmacist, so this was a service I knew I had to provide to the community," he said.

As part of the plan, he told Patch that he will accept any and all expired prescription and over-the-counter medications at the pharmacy, which is located within the Lake Hiawatha Super Foodtown on North Beverwyck Road.

There are exceptions: Rehman said he cannot accept controlled substances, liquids over 4 ounces in quantity and syringes. He recommended contacting local law enforcement to learn the proper disposal methods for those items.

Unlike many pharmacies—and Rehman said there are few New Jersey pharmacies that offer a drug disposal service—Hiawatha Pharmacy does not charge a fee for the service.

"I certainly hope people will learn about us and turn to us as their pharmacist, but the issue here is keeping people safe," Rehman said. "I'll accept drugs from any pharmacy, whether you are a customer here or not."

Rehman said there are many reasons why it is important for people to get expired medications out of their homes.

"Number one is prescription drug abuse," he said. "Getting rid of old and unused medications prevents others from taking drugs that could cause them health problems."

Rehman pointed out the rise in prescription drug abuse among teenagers willing to do almost anything—even swipe their parents' old and forgotten medications—for an easy high. He mentioned the troubling trend of teens holding parties where they mix a variety of found prescription meds into a bowl and take whatever they can scoop up in a handful.

"If you clean out your cabinets and dispose of old drugs, that potentially will reduce this type of abuse," he said.

Environmental problems constitute another reason, according to Rehman.

"Throwing old pills into the trash means they end up in landfills, where, if not disposed of properly (crushing pills and mixing them with coffee grounds or kitty litter to make them undesirable), people can find them," he said, adding that this can lead to abuse and environmental contamination.

"And flushing them down the toilet means the drug can get into the drinking water supply. Minimal amounts, but still, it's there. Every little thing counts in the big picture."

He said the Hiawatha Pharmacy give-back service is an opportunity for him to help fulfill his personal mission to keep residents educated on important issues and to help them stay healthy.

"There actually is a proper way to dispose of expired and unused medications and trained people employed to do it, so why not do it?" he said. 

He added that the service can also help people with spring cleaning and getting back space in their medicine cabinets.

"I had a lady talk to me just the other day," Rehman said. "Her husband had just passed away and she didn't know what to do with his medications. That's a common situation, along with people who've had surgery and have leftover pain medications sitting at home that they don't use anymore. 

"Everyone's guilty of it, even pharmacists," the father of three said with a laugh, noting that he still has medications leftover from his wife's second pregnancy. "The program will help people get rid of things that they might not know how to dispose of safely."

Rehman said he expects his service will start slowly, but hopes it will catch on with the public. 

"Hopefully, word of mouth will spread that a local pharmacist is doing this, I think for the first time," he said, adding that he has heard that some national chains have disposal programs but charge a fee for the service.

Hiawatha Pharmacy offers the service for free.

"My job as a community pharmacist is to do more than dispense pills," he asserted. "It's more of how we can be of service to the community. Yes, we can dispense your pills. Yes, we can check your profile to prevent drug interactions and tell you how to take your medications. At the same time, we're here to educate. From dispensing to disposing, we're here." 

Hiawatha Pharmacy will accept expired medication drop-offs during its regular opening hours, Monday through Friday from 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, check out the pharmacy's Facebook page or call 973-794-4909.