Medication Disposal Box Usage Growing Among Pharmacies

In 2021, 13.5% of licensed pharmacies in North Carolina had a box for patients to dispose of unused prescription medications, according to study findings published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

“Unused prescription opioids from family and friends continue to be the primary access point to prescription opioids for nonmedical use among youth,” stated study authors. “Implementation of medicine disposal boxes at pharmacies is one approach to facilitate removal of unused prescription opioids from the home to prevent diversion.”

The longitudinal study looked at medicine disposal box implementation between 2016 and 2021 at 2587 licensed pharmacies in North Carolina. In 2016, just 1.7% of pharmacies offered a medicine disposal box. The rate increased to 5.6% in 2018 and hit 13.5% in 2021, according to authors of the study.

When researchers considered correlates of implementation, they found independent pharmacies were more likely to offer a medication disposal box than chain pharmacies in 2018. In 2021, chain pharmacies were more likely than medical-affiliated and pharmacies defined as ‘other’ to have disposal boxes.

Pharmacies in areas with a higher percentage of residents below the federal poverty line were more likely to have disposal boxes in both 2018 and in 2021, according to study findings. Disposal boxes were more likely in pharmacies in counties with more opioid overdose deaths in 2018, but were less likely in pharmacies in areas with higher rates of unemployment in 2021.

“Our findings highlight growth of disposal boxes in North Carolina over time and the potential for continued expansion to provide opportunities to prevent prescription opioid diversion,” concluded researchers.

Reference:
Egan KL, Johnston CA, Jackson JT, Foster SE, Lee JGL. Rates and correlates of medicine disposal program implementation at pharmacies in North Carolina: a longitudinal study, 2016 to 2021. J Am Pharm Assoc. Published online March 8, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.japh.2022.03.002