Division of Public Safety unveils drug drop-off box

The national statistics on opioid abuse are sobering, and Penn’s Division of Public Safety wants to help.

According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.4 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs, a majority of which were obtained by looking in a family member’s or friend’s medicine cabinet.

One key to preventing the misuse, abuse, overdoses, and deaths is patient education on the safe storage and disposal of prescription opioids and other medications. 

The Pennsylvania Prescription Drug Take-Back Program handles the proper disposal of unused prescription medications, because keeping opioids or other addictive drugs in a medicine cabinet is no longer considered safe or responsible. 

Now, Penn’s Division of Public Safety and the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) are joining the effort to combat the opioid crisis by bringing the prescription drug take-back initiative to West Philadelphia.

Through a partnership with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Police Department, the Penn Police Department (UPPD) has installed University City’s only prescription-drug take-back box. 

Unveiled during a press conference on April 20, the box is housed in the lobby of the UPPD’s headquarters, 4040 Chestnut St. 

Maureen S. Rush, vice president for public safety and UPPD superintendent, says anyone from anywhere is welcome to use the box with no questions asked. 

“As a force that practices a community-based policing model, this is another resource we can offer to the West Philadelphia community and everyone at Penn,” Rush says, adding that the opioid crisis impacts families, friends, and neighborhoods.

“With two world-class Penn Medicine hospitals in University City, we are proud to partner with UPHS on this initiative,” Rush adds. “We encourage health care providers to tell their patients about our convenient prescription-drug drop box. This takes the burden off them for proper prescription disposal.”

Jeanmarie Perrone, professor of emergency medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Division of Medical Toxicology in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Penn, is an expert in effective interventions for opioid misuse. 

“By collecting leftover pills, we are compounding our efforts to decrease excess pills in the community that can lead to these problems,” Perrone says. “In the Penn Health System, we have created a multidisciplinary team to initiate safer pain relievers–reserving opioids for moderate to severe pain.”

Items that can be deposited in the drug take-back box include prescription and over-the-counter medications, tablets, capsules, and pet medicines. 

“Add this to your spring cleaning list: clean out your medicine cabinet and let us take care of proper disposal,” Rush says. 

Meanwhile, the Center for Health Incentives & Behavioral Economics in the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, a team of researchers are working on projects to address the crisis where it often begins: when patients, family members, or friends are first prescribed an opioid for pain management.

Kit Delgado from CHIBE examined how to reduce the “default number” of pills the emergency department orders for opioid prescriptions to match current guidelines and gathering social comparison feedback from clinicians. In addition, Delgado is collecting data from patients who were prescribed opioids after orthopedic surgery in order to “right-size” the prescription quantities.

CHIBE is also funding four pilot projects focusing on reducing the opioid epidemic, including creating decision tools to foster discussions on other-than-opioid treatment options for pain; using text messaging to help measure pain management; increasing mobility among veterans with chronic pain; and embracing a partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and the Free Library of Philadelphia to work on “bottlenecks” that prevent individuals from carrying naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal substance. 

*On April 28th, during the Drug Enforcement Administration's National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day , from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Philadelphia Fire Department and Philadelphia Police Department Stations across the city will also welcome people to drop off their old prescriptions. The closest locations to campus are the Narcotics Strike Force at 600 43rd St., Engine 43/Ladder 9 at 2108 Market St., and Engine 57 at 5559 Chestnut St.