HI-DESERT MEDICAL CENTER TAKING PRESCRIPTIONS AND NEEDLES SATURDAY

Those expired prescriptions or old needles around your house pose a real danger to your family and to our environment. Reporter Mike Lipsitz says Hi-Desert Medical Center will be collecting them Saturday…

Hi-Desert Medical Center hosts a drop-off event for unwanted prescription drugs and used sharps or needles on Saturday, August 22, from 9 a.m. to noon in front of the Helen Gray Education Center on the hospital campus.

Every year, thousands of pounds of prescription drugs end up in landfills. Medicines are a special type of hazardous chemical that we need to keep out of our solid waste system and landfills to prevent harm to people and the environment. Take-back programs such as this is recommended as the best way to dispose of unwanted medicines. Used sharps/needles are a contamination and health threat if not properly disposed of. Sharps must be brought to the event in a container such as a coffee can; do not bring uncontained sharps to the event. The event is free and no sign up is required.