Members of the public are invited to dispose of unused prescription medications – for free and anonymously – through take-back boxes installed at CoxHealth Pharmacy locations.
The boxes, which look similar to mailboxes, are at CoxHealth’s five pharmacies in Springfield and Branson, and are available to anyone in the community who wishes to use them.
“Proper disposal of unused prescription medication is very important,” says Ryan Baker, director of Pharmacy at CoxHealth. “We felt it was a priority to give people a way to do this whenever they had the need to get rid of these medications.”
Members of the public will need to drop the medication directly into the take-back boxes, as pharmacy staff are not permitted to touch the medications. Needles, inhalers and aerosols are not accepted.
The boxes are locked at all times, and once something is dropped in, it cannot be retrieved. After a box is full, it is immediately sealed by two members of staff and shipped to a destruction facility where it is incinerated.
The boxes are available anytime the pharmacies are open.