HCA Florida Englewood Hospital will host its third “Crush the Crisis” prescription drug take-back day on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the HCA Florida Wellen Park Medical Office Collection Station. The office is at 12169 Mercado Drive, in North Port, next to Publix in the West Villages Shopping Center. Follow the signs for the convenient event drive-through or walk-up. The event will help raise awareness about the dangers of prescription drug misuse and the importance of safe and proper disposal of unused or expired medications. It coincides with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day and offers the community an opportunity to dispose of medications safely and anonymously before they fall into the wrong hands. Last year – for the first time since 2018 – there was a decrease in national drug overdose deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, prescription drug misuse remains a public health crisis in the United States. In 2022, opioid or drug overdose were the cause of 92 deaths in Charlotte County and 213 deaths in Sarasota County. Englewood Hospital is participating in HCA Healthcare’s sixth annual national “Crush the Crisis” prescription drug take-back day. Last year, more than 120 HCA Healthcare facilities from all 15 U.S. divisions partnered with local law enforcement. Approximately 13,136 pounds, equivalent to 9.02 million doses, of unused and expired prescription medications were collected. Law enforcement officers from the North Port Police Department will be collecting tablets, capsules and patches of Hydrocodone (Norco, Lortab, Vicodin), Oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet), Tramadol (Ultram), Codeine, Fentanyl (Duragesic), Morphine, Hydromorphone (Dilaudid) and Oxymorphone (Opana). Ointments, lotions, drops, liquid medication in leak-proof containers, vape cartridges without batteries and pet medication will also be accepted. Any medications will be accepted; however, needles, syringes, lancets or liquids will not be accepted. For more information, visit hcahealthcare.com/crushthecrisis or call toll-free at (833) 582-1970.