10,000 opioid disposal kits donated to sheriff, Kettering Medical Center

UnitedHealthcare donated 10,000 opioid disposal kits to Kettering Medical Center and the Montgomery County Opiate Task Force in an effort to get unused opioids out of medicine cabinets.

The three-step kits allow people to get rid of unused prescription opioid pills or patches at home. They are available at the hospital or from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

“Please call us and ask for this,” said Sheriff Phil Plummer at a publicity event Thursday at Kettering Medical Center.

Plummer said he believed the area has “turned the corner, finally” in the opioid epidemic. “Get a few of these bags in your house and get the old opioids out of your house.”

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The event was attended by executives from Kettering Health Network and UnitedHealthcare, addiction survivors and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican candidate for governor.

“This issue matters,” said Tracy Davidson, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio chief executive. “It affects each and every one of us, our companies, our friends and our neighbors.”

Each opioid disposal kit can deactivate up to 45 tablets or six opioid patches. The kits, called the Deterra Drug Deactivation System, use molecular adsorption technology to neutralize the opioids. The kits are manufactured by Verde Technologies.

“Made possible by: Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals” is printed on the side of the kits. The company is an opioid manufacturer, but is not involved in the lawsuit filed by DeWine in February against four drug companies.

Dayton is one of 10 U.S. communities targeted in UnitedHealthcare’s effort to reduce opioid addiction and misuse.

Premier Health has opioid receptacles at five hospitals, excluding Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton, which is closing. Visitors and employees have disposed of more than 200 pounds of unused medications in the receptacles since April, the network said in a statement. The receptacles at Premier Health’s surviving hospitals are open to the public at all hours.

“We’ve been impressed by the rate at which these receptacles are filling up,” said Mary Boosalis, president and chief executive of Premier Health, in a statement. The receptacles were made possible by a grant from the PNC Foundation.

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