Safe and green: Medicine Cabinet Clean-Out Day

More than 250 people from throughout tri-state area came to Christiana Care’s Stanton campus for the second Medicine Cabinet Clean-out Day held on January 22. The event supports Christiana Care’s focus on both patient safety and environmental friendliness.

Christiana Care partnered with the State of Delaware and the Delaware Nurses Association to collect more than 508 pounds of unwanted and expired medications. Eight pounds of aerosol inhalers were collected, too. One of the most unusual items turned in was veterinary medicine for lions.

“This was the second time that Christiana Care hosted this event and we are thrilled with the participation,” says Bob Mulrooney, chair of Christiana Care’s Environmental Stewardship committee. “The quantity of medications collected increased significantly from last year.”

All medications collected during this event were disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner. Flushing medications down the drain is no longer an acceptable form of disposal. Unwanted or expired medications – often detected in municipal water supplies – can cause thousands of accidental poisonings each year.

More than 30 staff volunteered at the event from the Departments of Nursing, Pharmacy, Facilities Engineering, Occupational Safety, Human Resources, Public Safety and the Environmental Stewardship Committee, along with local law enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Delaware Board of Pharmacy.