Northeast Ohio hospital systems to host Drug Take-Back Day event

CLEVELAND — University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic will host an event alongside the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, which will be on Saturday, Oct. 28. 

Ohioans will be able to dispose of their unused or expired medications at 29 University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic locations throughout the Northeast Ohio region.

“When unused medicines sit for a long time at home, they’re more likely to be abused,” said Michael Carlin, senior director of Pharmacy, Business Operations and Logistical Management at University Hospitals. “At this event, we’re not only giving people a place to safely rid their homes of these drugs but equipping them with tools to intervene if someone in their life does overdose.”

Items that will be accepted at drop-off sites include:

• Prescription medications
• Over-the-counter medications
• Liquid medication in bottles that are less than 4 ounces (put into a Ziploc bag)

Items that won’t be accepted include:

• Illegal or “street” drugs
• Needles, syringes or sharps containers
• Medical devices and batteries
• Aerosol cans and inhalers
• Mercury-containing devices
• Radiopharmaceuticals
• Liquid antineoplastic (chemo) agents

“Disposing of unused and expired medications is an important way to prevent misuse or accidental exposure,” said Allison Riffle, interim chief pharmacy officer at Cleveland Clinic. “Our drug disposal kiosks are open year-round, but drug take-back days are important reminders for everyone to check their cabinets for extra medications. We are happy to work with University Hospitals to promote safe disposal methods in our communities.”

In addition, Project DAWN will also be at all University Hospitals drug drop-off sites. Project DAWN provides free naloxone kits and fentanyl test stripsto combat the opioid epidemic. Naloxone helps reverse the symptoms of an opioid overdose.

According to the American Medical Association, there were over 100,000 deaths associated with opioids in the U.S. last year. In Ohio, there were 22,760 opioid-related deaths in 2022, according to data from the Ohio Department of Health. 

University Hospitals drop-off locations can be found here, and Cleveland Clinic drop-off locations can be found here.