Poison Center completes Fall Medication Cleanout events

• By Mark Hendricks
• October 31, 2017

The Texas Panhandle Poison Center (TPPC) completed its fall Medication Cleanout cycle Oct. 28 at the TTUHSC Amarillo campus. During the four-hour collection period, event volunteers saw 431 vehicles and took in roughly 1,445 pounds of unwanted, expired or unused medications and 92 pounds of sharps. 

The collections provide a safe way for residents to dispose of these medications in a free, legal and environmentally sound manner, removing them from homes, schools and the streets. This year the Cancer Survivorship Center simultaneously conducted its Shred Out Cancer event to give the public an opportunity to have items like old receipts, letters, taxes and bills safely shredded and disposed using a secure onsite mobile shredder. The Amarillo Police Department and Document Shredding and Storage also provided support for the event. In addition, Texas State Representative Four Price and his wife, Karen, dropped by to discuss the Medication Cleanout effort with TPPC Managing Director Jeanie Jaramillo-Stametz, Pharm.D.

TPPC’s fall Medication Cleanout cycle also included collections at the TTUHSC campuses in Abilene (Sept. 30) and Lubbock (Oct. 7). The Abilene collection included 302 vehicles and took in 662 pounds of unwanted, expired or unused medications and 60 pounds of sharps. The Lubbock event saw 332 vehicles, 980 pounds of medications and 30 pounds of sharps.

Since starting the program in 2009, TPPC has conducted 53 Medication Cleanout events and collected more than 41,495 pounds of medications and sharps for incineration.

 

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