AG urges feds to address ‘diverted drugs’ as hospital announces take-back event

Several locations in our area will accept unused medications as part of a regional drug take-back event.

Mary Washington Healthcare and Partners in Aging, along with the support of local law enforcement, announced Operation Medicine Cabinet. The spring drop-off will take place on Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The regional event will span 10 locations in Stafford and around Fredericksburg. They include

• Stafford Hospital, at 101 Hospital Center Boulevard, Stafford
• Mary Washington Hospital — Thompkins Martin Medical Plaza, at 1101 Sam Perry Boulevard, Fredericksburg
• Wegmans grocery store, 2281 Carl D. Silver Parkway in Fredericksburg
• The Bell Tower at the University of Mary Washington, 1301 College Avenue, Fredericksburg
• Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, 4600 Spotsylvania Parkway, Spotsylvania

Operation Medicine Cabinet is held each spring and fall, which allows our community a safe way to drop off any expired or unused medications and sharps with no questions asked.

“Protecting our surroundings from being contaminated with unused medications and sharps is very important to MWHC and we are proud to join hands with Partners in Aging and our local law enforcement to do our part, together,” said Cathy Yablonski, senior vice president and chief ambulatory operations officer at Mary Washington Hospital.

The announcement comes as Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced Thursday, April 14 that he joined 10 other states in a letter urging the CDC to address the danger of diverted drugs as it writes new guidelines on opioid prescriptions. Diverted drugs are drugs that are sold legally but come into the possession of users without a prescription.

According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, 10.1 million or nearly 4% of U.S. citizens misuse opioids at least once over 12 months. A total of 1.6 million, or nearly 16% qualify as having an opioid use disorder.

Mary Washington Healthcare is a fully integrated, regional medical system that provides inpatient and outpatient care through over 50 facilities, including Mary Washington Hospital, a 471-bed regional medical center, and Stafford Hospital, a 100-bed community hospital.

Partners in Aging, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) organization formed in 2009, is a collaboration of area profit and non-profit organizations. The mission of Partners in Aging is to improve access and resources for older adults and their families in the Fredericksburg community.