VA Puget Sound invites the public to help keep our communities safe by safely disposing of expired or unused medication during Rx Take Back Day
SEATTLE, WA—VA Puget Sound Health Care System is hosting another Rx Take Back Day on Friday, October 25, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., inviting the public to safely dispose of expired or unused prescription and over-the-counter medications at our main campuses:
- American Lake Campus: 9600 Veterans Drive Southwest, Building 81, Pharmacy Lobby (Room 1089), Tacoma, WA 98498
- Seattle Campus: 1660 S Columbian Way, Building 100, Outpatient Pharmacy Lobby (Room 1D-145), Seattle, WA 98108
“It is important to regularly examine our medications and safely dispose of ones that are expired or unused,” said VA Puget Sound Health Care System Associate Chief of Pharmacy Eric Chantelois. “By keeping unused or expired medications out of our lakes, streams and the wrong hands, you are making a significant contribution towards keeping America safe.”
Veterans and others can anonymously dispose of unused and expired prescriptions—including controlled substance medication—and over-the-counter medication. Medical devices or batteries, needles and sharps, aerosol medications and illegal drugs are not accepted.
VA Puget Sound’s biannual Rx Take Back Days are aligned with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s twice yearly National Prescription Drug Take Back Days. And they are part of the national effort by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs to encourage Americans to properly dispose of opioids and all unused or expired medications, in line with the Dispose Unused Medications and Prescription (DUMP) Opioids Act, the Opioid Safety Initiative, VA Pharmacy Benefits Management Services and VA’s Opioid Overdose Education & Naloxone Distribution program.
VA is committed to supporting the safe disposal of unused controlled substance prescription medications for our Veterans and we look forward to participating in public Take Back events. You can find year-round collection sites through DEA’s Drop-Off Locations search tool.
About VA Puget Sound Health Care System:
VA Puget Sound provides comprehensive care to more than 155,000 Veterans across the Pacific Northwest—approximately 120,000 are enrolled with a primary care team at one of its 10 care sites: two main campuses (American Lake and Seattle), six outpatient clinics (Edmonds, Mount Vernon, Olympia, Port Angeles, Puyallup and Silverdale) and two Community Resource & Referral Centers (Georgetown in Seattle and Renton). As the VA’s 4th largest research program, VA Puget Sound has research in virtually every major clinical department, including: TBI and multiple blast exposures; memory improvement and Alzheimer's Disease; PTSD and deployment health; Parkinson’s Disease; diabetes; cancer; substance abuse; lower limb prosthetics; genomics; and Health Services. Additionally, it has seven nationally recognized Centers of Excellence (in areas from limb-loss prevention and prosthetic engineering to primary care education and substance abuse treatment). For more information visit www.va.gov/puget-sound-health-care or call 800-329-8387. For Veterans in Crisis, please use the Veterans Crisis line at 988 (press 1).