Northwestern Medicine is partnering with the DEA to host 3 take back sites throughout the Chicago area next weekend.
Jonah Stulberg, MD, PhD, MPH
General surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Opioid reduction and safe disposal lead at Northwestern Medicine
Assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Director of opioid reduction efforts at the Northwestern Surgical Outcomes & Quality Improvement Center
http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/faculty-profiles/az/profile.html?xid=33366
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, April 28, addresses a vital public safety and public health issue – diversion, misuse and abuse of prescription drugs. Approximately 16.7 million people used prescription drugs for a nonmedical purpose in the past year. Of the nonmedical users of prescription drugs, 70% obtained their drugs through diversion, or the transfer of a legally prescribed controlled substance from the individual for whom it was prescribed to another person.
“Surgical providers write nearly 10 percent of all opioid prescriptions and approximately 80 percent of the pills of those 28.3 million prescriptions go unused, leaving a staggering number of pills available for diversion and leaving them vulnerable to abuse or misuse,” said Jonah Stulberg, MD, a general surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital who is leading Northwestern Medicine’s opioid reduction strategies.
Dr. Stulberg is taking an active role in reducing the likelihood of diversion by launching an innovative clinic-based opioid take back program for patients who have surgery at Northwestern Medicine’s Digestive Health Center (DHC). In addition to lowering the number of pills prescribed, Northwestern Medicine patients now have an easy and convenient way to dispose of unused medications after surgery.
When a patient has surgery at the DHC, they’ll be prescribed opioids for pain but then asked to bring any unused medication with them to their postoperative clinic appointment. When they return to clinic, they’ll be surveyed on how many pills they used and then are able to dispose of the excess opioids in a one-way, sealed drug collection receptacle within clinic. Patients who do not bring back unused pain medication receive a brochure about how to safely dispose of unused opioids.
While drug retrieval receptacles are sometimes found in pharmacies or police stations, it remains uncommon to offer this safe disposal option at the point of patient care. “For surgeons, opioids are an important tool for managing our patients’ pain, but if we prescribe these medications then we must also take responsibility for ensuring excess pills can be safely disposed of and taken out of the community,” said Dr. Stulberg.
The opioid retrieval program is just one piece of the puzzle. Several evidence-based best practices for managing post-surgical pain while reducing opioid prescribing exist, but are significantly underutilized by surgeons across the country. With funding through the NIH/NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse), Dr. Stulberg is leading efforts across the Northwestern Medicine Health System to work with surgeons to change their prescribing habits and ultimately develop safer and more effective pain management strategies that minimize excess opioids and limit drug misuse
“Following the success of our clinic based take back pilot, we are now working to offer drug disposal collection kiosks in all of our hospitals and to find other ways to reduce our reliance on opioid prescriptions and prevent diversion of these addictive pain medications,” said Stulberg.
His ultimate goal is to develop a sustainable model for safe opioid prescribing and optimal pain control, while minimizing societal harm due to a surplus of unused opioids that can be replicated by hospitals and surgical providers across the country.
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