Every year, over 60,000 children end up in the ER because of accidental medication poisoning. And thousands of teens start down the road to addiction and overdose by “experimenting” with powerful pain pills prescribed for other family members. Many homeless people now living on the streets began a downward spiral when they became addicted to those powerful medications and then lost their jobs, their health and their homes.
To stop accidental poisonings and medication misuse before it starts, Sacramento County Supervisor Sue Frost secured a grant from the county for an innovative trial program for Citrus Heights, California, residents. Citrus Heights, an established community of 90,000, is located in the heart of California’s capital region. The trial program will provide 1,000 Safer Lock prescription bottles with locking caps to Citrus Heights parents, allowing them to secure medications in a simple but powerful locking prescription bottle that can be opened only by those who know the unique four-digit combination code.
Dr. Janine Bera, Chief Medical Officer for WellSpace Health notes, “Sadly, by now we probably all have a friend or family member whose trouble with drug addiction began by pilfering a few pills from the medicine bottle of a parent or neighbor. Who’s going to miss just a few? Safer Lock is an easy and convenient way keep these medications available for use as they were intended while at the same time, preventing them from being used inappropriately.” Parents from Citrus Heights can pick up a free Safer Lock bottle, while supplies last, from the WellSpace San Juan Health Center at 5959 Greenback Lane, Ste 500 or from the Citrus Heights City Hall or the Police Department. The City will offer more pick-up locations by late December.
Citrus Heights City Councilman Bret Daniels, who led the effort to provide Safer Locks to city residents, commended this groundbreaking approach to prevention; “Citrus Heights is proud to be the first city in America to distribute Safer Locks to our residents. We encourage other communities to join forces with us to keep deadly medications out of the hands of toddlers and teens. Large-scale prevention efforts will benefit entire communities.”
About Safer LockTM
Safer Lock is a patented 4-digit combination locking cap that is sold with the Safer Lock bottle or can retrofit many existing pharmaceutical vials used in pharmacies today. Patients create and set their personal combination from 10,000 possibilities, which can only be changed when it’s on its current, correct combination. Safer Lock will only open when it’s on the correct combination, which keeps non-patients from pilfering medication without detection. Safer Lock of Gatekeeper Innovation, Inc. is headquartered in Sacramento, California.
Learn more at Saferlockrx.com
Media Contact
Company Name: Gatekeeper Innovation
Contact Person: Susan King
Email: sking@saferlockrx.com
Phone: 916 765-4479
Address:4200 North Freeway Blvd., Suite 2
City: Sacramento
State: CA 95834
Country: United States
Website: www.saferlockrx.com