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Our Commitment Starts Here
The opioid epidemic continues to take a devastating toll on the health and economic vitality of millions of Americans. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, more than 6 million people in the United States have an opioid use disorder.
As part of our commitment, we established the Controlled Substance Stewardship Initiative to identify concrete, high-impact actions to help fight the opioid epidemic. The Initiative focuses on supporting solutions in three core areas:
As an additional safety measure, Walmart offers an at-home opioid disposal product, DisposeRx, at no cost in all pharmacies nationwide. Patients filling any new opioid prescription at Walmart receive a free DisposeRx packet, and patients with chronic prescriptions are offered a free packet every six months. Existing Walmart pharmacy patients can also receive a free DisposeRx packet at any time on request.
A significant number of individuals who misuse prescription drugs initially obtained the drugs from a friend or family member. Walmart is providing the community a medication disposal receptacle as a convenient, secure method for pharmaceutical disposal. As part of Project Safe-RX, Medication Disposal Receptacles are available at select pharmacy/club locations to dispose of any unneeded or unwanted pharmaceuticals from your home.
Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacists also have access to and use the controlled substance tracking tool NarxCare/LogiCoy in states that allow access. Our pharmacists are trained to check for indicators of potential concern before filling each prescription. NarxCare/LogiCoy, along with other tools, helps our pharmacists make better dispensing decisions
Walmart and Sam’s Club are committed to supporting education programs and initiatives aimed at curbing opioid abuse. This includes providing current resources to our pharmacists on pain management, safe prescribing and how to talk to patients about pain disorder and substance abuse disorder.
We arm our pharmacists with opioid safety information that is provided to patients when picking up a new acute opioid prescription. Pharmacists provide additional safety counseling about overdose risks and naloxone use to patients who might be at risk of overdose. These educational efforts for patients yields results. Patients are reaching out to tell us the information and tools we provided helped keep them safe – in some cases saving lives.
Walmart believes that youth education is an important part of the fight against prescription drug abuse. Our company has partnered with the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration’s (D.E.A.) 360 Strategy initiative, regional D.E.A. offices, Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, Operation Engage and the Gavin Foundation to sponsor National Youth Summits on opioid awareness. This program has partnered with hundreds of stakeholders and non-profits working on this issue and targets middle and high school students to raise awareness on the dangers of substance abuse.
Given the scope of the opioid crisis and how it is affecting our communities, we believe state and federal laws must be examined to identify and implement solutions on a wide scale. Walmart supports the development and implementation of a national prescription drug tracking database that would allow all 50 states to exchange data within a centralized national database.
In addition, we support legislation in states and in Congress to require an up to seven-day limit for initial prescriptions issued for acute conditions and to require e-prescriptions for all controlled substance prescriptions.
We also are concerned that conflicting rules and guidance on opioid prescriptions from federal and state agencies has led to significant confusion and can impede efforts to tackle the crisis. Walmart supports efforts to raise awareness about these conflicts and to seek clarification where needed.
Our efforts, together with those of governments at the state and federal levels and others in the private sector, are beginning to yield results. But more work needs to be done. We will continue working with individuals and organizations in our communities to protect patients and families from the risks of prescription opioid misuse and abuse.
Together, we can help make a difference.
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