Winston-Salem, NC, May 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Inmar Intelligence, an experienced drug stewardship operator and regulatory company, is happy to announce that, as of May 13, 2022, it has received approval for Washington’s Safe Medication Return program. State residents will soon gain access to the benefits of Inmar’s consumer drug take-back initiative, helping to fight drug misuse and abuse, accidental poisonings, and environmental damage through proper disposal options for unused medication.
Unused or expired drugs lurking in medicine cabinets have been a key source of Washington’s growing drug problem. In 2021, about six Washington residents died on average each day, around 2,075 annually, from a drug overdose. That number rose 30 percent from 2020,(1) a startling increase. Clearing out surplus household drugs would help to reverse this growth.
Old prescriptions often end up tossed in the garbage or flushed down the sink, which causes water pollution. According to a report from ScienceDirect, “47 different pharmaceutical drugs were detected in source water samples that feed into 25 drinking water treatment plants across the United States, and 37 different drugs were found in the water after it was treated.”(2) Clearly, providing Washington residents with access to safe, convenient disposal options is ecologically critical.
State governments nationwide, as a response to these public health concerns, have begun passing legislation mandating pharmaceutical manufacturer-funded drug stewardship programs. In an effort to combat prescription drug abuse in Washington, and protect the environment from the effects of improper disposal of prescription medications, Inmar Intelligence is working with the State of Washington to expand and enhance consumer drug take-back throughout the state with a compliant, cost effective and cost-consistent solution. Their all-inclusive, safe, secure and turn-key program is funded by pharmaceutical manufacturers at no cost to pharmacies or consumers. That’s good news for Washington and its residents.
Inmar is compliant in every state with mandated pharma-funded requirements and is able to leverage its existing infrastructure to provide a compliant, cost-effective solution. With this recent approval from the State of Washington, Inmar can begin executing an initiative that includes a network of easily accessible kiosks. Its drug stewardship program currently provides over 4,000 US drug take-back receptacles and continues to expand. Washington residents will be able to use these kiosks to safely and appropriately dispose of their unwanted prescription medications — preventing diversion and misuse.
Inmar’s Consumer Drug Take-Back program collection services include:
- Safe and secure solutions for unwanted household medications
- Environmental protection from unwanted drug elements in the water supply
- Support for community efforts to combat the drug epidemic
- Compliance with the DEA Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010
For more information about Inmar’s Solutions for Healthcare, please visit inmar.com.
Inmar Intelligence is the largest provider of pharmaceutical reverse logistics services in the US. That makes it uniquely positioned to leverage its operational efficiencies, dispenser relationships and economies of scale to manage drug take-back programs of any proportion. Partnering with retail pharmacies in multiple states, Inmar’s scalability and cost predictability is unmatched in the industry — which makes it a fierce ally in the fight against drug abuse.
(1) Ahmad FB, Rossen LM, Sutton P. ‘Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts.’ National Center for Health Statistics. 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm
(2) Edward T. Furlong et al. ‘Nationwide reconnaissance of contaminants of emerging concern in source and treated drinking waters of the United States: Pharmaceuticals.’ ScienceDirect. February 2017. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969716305551
About Inmar Intelligence
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Inmar Intelligence is a leading applied data platform company. $120 billion of commerce runs through our market-driven platforms, which are propelling digital transformation through unified data, workflows and fund flows to help companies drive innovation and achieve digital transformation. Our integrated workflows create insights through Analytics, AI, and Machine Learning to drive faster actions and outcomes.
Throughout our 42-year history, we have served retailers, manufacturers, pharmacies, health systems, government agencies and employers as their trusted intermediary in helping them redefine success. For more information about Inmar, please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, or call (866) 440-6917.
