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Free Medication Disposal Now Available
Froedtert Hospital offers a free medication collection program to safely dispose of expired and unwanted medications. Anyone can bring their unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medications to any of the three Froedtert Hospital pharmacy locations during business hours.
“The reasons for starting this program are to reduce groundwater and drinking water contamination, prevent childhood poisonings, decrease medication abuse and increase patient satisfaction with our pharmacy services,” said Elizabeth Thimm, PharmD, clinical pharmacist at Froedtert Hospital, who began the program as part of her residency training. “Beginning the program has been challenging,” said Thimm, explaining that medicine disposal is a highly regulated undertaking. “It is also expensive to have medications picked up and incinerated by an outside vendor, so we appreciate the support of the donors to the Froedtert Hospital Foundation in getting this project off the ground. The public response has far exceeded our expectations.”
The program cannot accept controlled substances, biohazardous materials or household hazardous waste. Medications must be in their original packaging or prescription bottle.
“There’s confusion about what to do with expired medications,” said Jim Klauck, vice president of Supply Chain/Pharmacy for Froedtert & Community Health. “This program is different than others because rather than offering a one-day drop-off opportunity, the community can safely dispose of medicine any time the pharmacies are open.”
The program is available at the following Froedtert Hospital pharmacy locations:
West Outpatient Pharmacy 414-805-5117
Monday – Friday, 7:30 am - 7:00 pm; Saturday, Sunday and holidays, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
East Clinics Outpatient Pharmacy 414-805-6501
Monday – Friday, 8:30 am - 6:00 pm
Clinical Cancer Center Outpatient Pharmacy 414-805-0977
Monday – Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Source: Froedtert Today Date: September 2010 |