West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute and DisposeRx Discuss Drug Misuse Prevention Education Efforts at Rx Summit 2022

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Apr 20, 2022, 11:05 ET

Programs tackle opioid epidemic by providing pharmacists with disposal tools and reimbursement

ATLANTA, April 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute (WV DII) and DisposeRx, Inc. shared details on the new trend of opioid misuse prevention education within a growing number of states during a session this morning at the Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit (Rx Summit).

WV DII President Susan Bissett, PhD, and Carol Dorn Sanders, MA, FACHE, a senior vice president for DisposeRx, led the session "Opioid Misuse Prevention Education: Providing Pharmacists with the Tools Needed and Reimbursement Deserved."

Rx Summit—the largest, most influential annual conference addressing the opioid and addiction crisis, runs through April 21.

Earlier this month, WV DII launched the Nalox(ONE) project—a pilot program designed to train and reimburse pharmacists for the opioid education they provide to their patients, as well as to provide pharmacists with the tools they need to better screen and engage with patients. Nalox(ONE) involves multiple stakeholders and has three primary components: an Opioid Education and Screening Tool developed by North Dakota State University—OneRx; NARCAN; and DisposeRx medication disposal packets.

"We are thrilled to be able to share details about our comprehensive program to help curb the opioid crisis in West Virginia by providing pharmacist education, overdose reversal medication, and a simple drug disposal tool when opioid prescriptions are filled," said Dr. Bissett. "Further, we believe pharmacists should be compensated for the critical counseling they provide and hope that more organizations will develop these types of important programs in their own states."

Iowa and Missouri have implemented opioid disposal education and reimbursement programs within the past year.

About DisposeRx Packets
DisposeRx at-home medication disposal packets are comprised of materials that are FDA-approved for oral medications and provide a simple, convenient and effective solution for the disposal of unused or expired medications. The active ingredient in the medication is chemically and physically sequestered in a polymer gel when water and the DisposeRx powder are added to a prescription vial and shaken. Patients can use the patented product with pills, tablets, capsules, liquids and powders and can then throw away the vial in the household trash.

About DisposeRx, Inc.
North Carolina-based DisposeRx, Inc. is dedicated to decreasing the risks of drug diversion, overdoses, suicides, accidental poisonings and antibiotic resistance by facilitating medication safety behavior change and eradicating the misuse of leftover medications. DisposeRx's market-leading, patented medication disposal packets and education programs are currently available at 60% of retail pharmacies, 90% of wholesale distributors, and through health plans and provider organizations across the U.S. The company has donated more than 750,000 packets to approximately 450 community non-profits since 2018. For more information, visit DisposeRx.

SOURCE DisposeRx, Inc.