Bringing The World Home To You

© 2024 WUNC North Carolina Public Radio
120 Friday Center Dr
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
919.445.9150 | 800.962.9862
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Dealing With Unwanted Opioids

Per the CDC, health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for painkillers in 2012, enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills at home. (Ryan Caron King /WNPR)
Per the CDC, health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for painkillers in 2012, enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills at home. (Ryan Caron King /WNPR)

Take a look inside your cupboard or medicine cabinet and you’re likely to find pills from prior visits to the doctor. Some of those could be opioid painkillers, which can be dangerous if used improperly.

As overdose deaths rise across the country, people are taking a second look at how doctors prescribe opioids and how much thought is given to the pills that are leftover once patients no longer need them. Patrick Skahill from Here & Now contributor WNPR in Hartford reports.

  • Wondering how to safely discard your unneeded medication? Check out tips compiled by the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists here.
  • See more of Patrick Skahill’s coverage on dealing with leftover drugs here and here.

Reporter

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.