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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.

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Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.