Supporting Drug Take Back Day Across Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is actively supporting the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 22 and every day of the year.

Drug Take Back Day will be observed across communities Mayo Clinic serves, from Northwest Wisconsin to Phoenix, from Rochester to Jacksonville, and places in between. Take Back days take place in April and October.

Several campuses, units and individual staff members have supported the DEA’s Take Back Day activities in the past. Starting in 2023, Mayo is embarking on a systemwide community engagement initiative.
Participation in Take Back Day could mean cleaning out your medicine cabinet and bringing expired or unneeded medications to your local drop-off event on Saturday, April 22. It might mean volunteering to post flyers in your community or giving a ride to an elderly neighbor with medications to drop off. It could be taking the opportunity to discuss with a patient some other options for pain management or why it is important to use all medication as prescribed or safely dispose of them.

Engaging staff at work and in their communities increases awareness of the potential for misuse and abuse of opioids and other medications and provides opportunities to reduce those risks.

Community members are encouraged to drop off unneeded medication at Mayo Clinic any day. There will be pharmacists and other health care professionals on-site, able to provide more information about drug misuse and abuse.

Medications, including controlled substances, will be accepted for safe disposal at take-back locations: prescription drugs; over-the-counter medications; ointments, patches, creams, inhalers and vials; pet medications; and nonaerosol medications. Liquid medications must be in the original container. Vape pens and other e-cigarette devices are accepted, with the batteries removed.

The events are free and anonymous. No questions will be asked. Other drop-off event locations are on the DEA’s collection site tool.

Participating in Take Back Day events is an extension of Mayo’s efforts promoting the appropriate use of other drugs, devices and other health care interventions, which can all be linked to Mayo’s core value of Stewardship.

As an institution, Mayo Clinic reaches beyond its walls, promoting the health and well-being of communities.

Mayo helps conduct regular community health needs assessments across the many communities in which we live and work, and mental health and substance abuse are a significant and growing problem that we are obligated to address.