Cigna’s Evernorth has partnered with Direct Relief to create a donation pathway that routes unused prescription medications from pharmacies directly to disaster response efforts.
Express Scripts donated more than 41,000 prescription medications as an initial supply, the company said in a Feb. 12 news release. The medications treat conditions that include asthma, COPD, diabetes and organ transplant rejection, and were selected based on what is most frequently needed during emergencies.
The collaboration is designed as a scalable framework that could be replicated across Evernorth’s pharmacy network or adopted by other healthcare providers. Evernorth and Direct Relief said they worked together to ensure the pathway complies with Drug Supply Chain Security Act requirements.
Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization active in all 50 states and more than 90 countries, will store the medications in advance to speed up deployment when disasters occur.
