Bethesda, MD  (October 4, 2010) -- In recognition of National Pharmacy Week, October 17 -23, 2010, Suburban Hospital pharmacists will host a Pharmacy Brown Bag Event on Wednesday, October 20 from 1:30 – 3:30pm, providing the community with the chance to bring in their medications for a free consultation.

“A brown bag event is a free service to the community that encourages consumers and patients to bring in all of their medications, both prescription and over-the-counter, for a one-on-one review with a pharmacist,” says Mahro Ershadi, director of the Suburban Hospital Pharmacy. “We hope to improve the patient-pharmacist relationships and promote medication compliance and safety.”

The Pharmacy Brown Bag Event will also highlight the important contributions made by pharmacists and technicians to promote the safety and well-being of patients. “It is a great way to educate the community about how pharmacists can help them get the most benefit from their medicine,” adds Ershadi.

The event is free and registration is not required. Participants are asked to bring all medications in a brown paper bag to Suburban Hospital anytime between 1:30 and 3:30pm.on October 20.  The event will be held on the second floor by the main elevators.  For more information about the Pharmacy Brown Bag Event at Suburban Hospital, please call Suburban On-Call at 301.896.3939.

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Suburban Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, is a not-for-profit, community-based hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, that has served Montgomery County and the surrounding area for more than 65 years. Suburban Hospital is distinguished by a cutting-edge stroke program; level II trauma center; centers of excellence in cardiac care, orthopedics and joint replacement surgery, neurosciences and oncology; state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment tools; and affiliations with world-class institutions, including the neighboring National Institutes of Health.