For more information contact:
Kelly Cannon
816.395.3711 Kelly.Cannon@BlueKC.com
KANSAS CITY, MO. (October 25, 2018) — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC) remains committed in their efforts to encourage all Americans to safely dispose of unused and expired prescription medicines as part of the 16th U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Oct. 27, 2018.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day was created to expand the ease and convenience of medication disposal – including opioids and other controlled substances – while helping to reduce the misuse of medications and reduce overdose deaths.
On October 27, grocery stores, police departments and other organizations across the Kansas City area will be accepting medications for safe disposal. Locations are available here. Medications may also be disposed of at any time during regular business hours at the Walgreens locations at 7500 Metcalf Avenue, Overland Park, Kansas, and 7739 State Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas. Other Walgreens medication disposal locations can be found here.
While opioid use disorder continues to impact thousands of Americans, including more than 241,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) members across the nation, progress has been made to reduce the dose and duration of opioid use. According to a recent Blue Cross Blue Shield Health of America Report titled "The Opioid Epidemic in America: An Update," opioid prescriptions filled by BCBS members dropped by 29 percent in 2017 compared to 2013, and BCBS members who filled at least one opioid prescription in a year decreased by 25 percent.
According to the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.2 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study shows that a majority of misused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.
The last Take Back Day in April 2018 brought in almost one million pounds (474.5 tons) of unused or expired prescription medications, which brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9,964,714 pounds, or 4,982 tons.
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, the largest not-for-profit health insurer in Missouri and the only not-for-profit commercial health insurer in Kansas City, has been part of the Kansas City community since 1938. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City provides health coverage services to more than one million residents in the greater Kansas City area, including Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and 30 counties in Northwest Missouri. Our mission: to provide affordable access to healthcare and to improve the health of our members. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information on the company, visit its website at BlueKC.com.