Corker Urges Tennesseans to Participate in National Take-Back Day on September 25

Press Release

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Sponsor's First-Ever Nationwide Effort to Encourage Safe Disposal of Discarded Prescription Medicines

U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., ranking member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, today urged Tennesseans to participate in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's first-ever National Take-Back Day on Saturday, September 25. The DEA, in coordination with state and local law enforcement agencies, will open collection centers from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. local time for anyone wishing to discard unused or expired prescription drugs, with a particular emphasis on controlled substances.

For more information about National Take-Back Day and to locate a collection site in your area, visit: http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/takeback/. A current list of locations in Tennessee is attached below.

"Getting rid of prescription medicines in a safe and appropriate way helps keep potentially hazardous substances from ending up in the wrong hands which can lead to serious injury and even death," Corker said. "On September 25, I urge Tennesseans to check their medicine cabinets and bring any unwanted or expired drugs to a collection site in their area. Let's help stop the accidental and illicit use of prescription drugs."

It is estimated that more than four billion prescriptions are written annually in the United States and up to 40 percent of drugs dispensed outside of hospitals go unused, generating approximately 200 million pounds of pharmaceutical waste each year. In 2007 alone, 15.7 million controlled substance prescriptions were written to just 5.7 million people in Tennessee. This prevalence of unused drugs poses a significant public health and safety hazard when these medications are accidentally or illegally consumed.

Medicine in the home accounts for more accidental poisonings than any other product in the U.S. From 2002 to 2006 the rate of unintentional poisoning deaths in Tennessee increased by 53 percent, and, according to provisional data from the Tennessee Medical Examiner's office, 138 people died from prescription drug misuse in 2007.

Last month the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, cosponsored by Corker, that would help facilitate the safe disposal of prescription medications regulated by the DEA under the Controlled Substances Act. Current law prohibits individuals and long-term care facilities from distributing controlled substances to other persons for the purposes of disposal.

In June Corker invited Bruce Behringer, associate vice president and executive director of the Office of Rural and Community Health and Community Partnerships at East Tennessee State University, to testify at a Senate Aging Committee hearing that examined the causes and consequences of wasted and unused prescription drugs.

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