GEISINGER MEDICAL CENTER -- A study done at Geisinger Medical Center confirms there's a lot of unused prescription medication out there, and in many cases, it is disposed.
A new program is aimed at keeping potentially-dangerous medication out of the wrong hands.
You go to a pharmacy to pick up prescription drugs, but it wasn't until 2014 that the Drug Enforcement Agency allowed pharmacies to take back controlled substances if they apply to do so.
Pharmacist and Geisinger Health System Researcher Eric Wright says many people need to take a look at their medicine cabinets.
"The most common medication class that people have in their home, that they have unused, are pain medications. Most are narcotic medications," he said.
Wright is referring to a study done in part by Geisinger Health Researcher Daniel Maeng about prescription drugs, specifically how much unused medication is out there.
"It's something that turned out to be pretty interesting from a health policy perspective," Maeng said.
Maeng and his team found that most people surveyed -- many of them seniors -- didn't use all of the medication they were prescribed, most commonly because they didn't need it for that long or their doctors switched their prescription.
"Medicare advantage members on average seemed to have about 20 different medications," Maeng added.
That is where med return boxes come in.
Wright says local law enforcement does a great job holding drug take back events, but that Geisinger has something more permanent in mind.
"We want people to see the boxes all the time, in the pharmacies, and say, 'oh, yeah, I have that medicine,'" Wright said. "Because if you miss that one day, [you] have to wait another six months; that's just not convenient."
Officials say you'll see 10 med return boxes in various locations in Lycoming County to start, with more added in other locations the future.
Wright says Geisinger is partnering with various pharmacies -- Weis Markets is one example.
The study completed by Maeng and his colleagues was recently published in JAPHA, the Journal of American Pharacists Association.