CVS installs boxes for safe opioid disposal
CVS Health is installing medication disposal units in 32 of its pharmacies in Virginia in an effort to prevent opioids from getting into the hands of addicts.
Local CVC pharmacies on the list include stores at 7205 Little River Turnpike in central Annandale and 8124 Arlington Blvd. in the Yorktown Center in Falls Church.
“This is an important step in combatting fatal heroin and prescription drug overdoses and provides a safe way for Virginians to get these unused or unwanted drugs out of their homes,” said Attorney General Mark Herring June 14 during the announcement of the CVC initiative. “Many times, opioid addiction begins with the medicine cabinet, which is why it is crucial that we dispose of these drugs before they get into the hands of someone who could misuse or abuse them.”
Opioid addiction has reached epidemic levels across the nation, and Fairfax County is no exception. There were more than 100 drug-related deaths in the county in 2016, 80 of them related to opioid overdoses, the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board reports.
One response to “CVS installs boxes for safe opioid disposal”
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I'm glad to hear about this. I lost a friend several years ago to an addiction to Oxycontin/oxycodone; apparently, she was working her doctors like puppets to get at least some of the medicine that ended up taking her life, but any steps that might protect someone else from the kind of addiction and death that she suffered is a valuable one, in my eyes.
My life will never be the same without her.