A woman drove up in a sleek silver car, handed a ziplock bag filled with colorful prescription pills out the window and then drove off.
A police officer thanked her and waved. Then he slid the medications into a locked dropbox.
The interaction was the first at Saturday’s opioid take-back event at St. Mark’s Hospital. Anyone could drive through and drop off unused prescriptions by the emergency room. It was quick, convenient, discreet and confidential.
“A lot of people hold on to medications because they think they might need them later,” said Janet Zarndt, the director of pharmacy services for MountainStar Healthcare, which runs eight hospitals in Utah including St.