[Pharmwaste] FW: Google Alert - unused medicine disposal

Jeff Hollar jhollar at pwaste.com
Wed Mar 24 09:58:12 EDT 2010


This is not a recent issue.  About 7 years ago I was in a very large flea
market in southern Florida and ran across the same situation.  The vendor
was selling loads of expired OTC products with the original packaging.  When
I asked the vendor where they acquired the merchandise from, he was very
vague in his response but did indicate it was from "a local company".
Realistically, how many people off the street will think about checking the
expiration date on these products.

 

Regarding the placing of pharmaceuticals in a bag on your doorstep for
collection.  How absurd is this?  Maybe I should leave the house key in the
bag so they can come in and collect my wife's jewelry as well.  Gee, how
hard would it be to bust these guys?  Maybe when they come around to collect
the bags?  Or, maybe you won't bust the perpetrators, but just some junkies
that take advantage of this opportunity.  I hope there is a follow up to
this story.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Jeff Hollar

President

PharmWaste Technologies, Inc.

(P) 515-276-5302 Ext. 316

(E) Jhollar at Pwaste.com

(W) www.pwaste.com

 

From: Sue Dayton [mailto:sdayton at swcp.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 8:29 AM
To: 'Matthew C. Mireles'; 'Gressitt,Stevan';
pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us; rxnews at listserve.com
Cc: linkfilion at communityofcompetence.com; easmith at communityofcompetence.com
Subject: RE: [Pharmwaste] FW: Google Alert - unused medicine disposal

 

I just went to a flea market in SC outside of Columbia. SAME deal. There was
at least 3 troughs (2' x 10 ') holding mountains, piled on top of each
other, of various over-the-counter meds. I was flabbergasted!  

 

Where are they getting these?  

 

Sue Dayton

Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League

North Carolina Healthy Communities Program

PO BOX 44

Saxapahaw, NC 27340

(336) 525-2003

sdayton at swcp.com

 

 

 

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
-  Martin Luther King Jr.

 

 

 

  _____  

From: pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us
[mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of Matthew C.
Mireles
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 2:30 PM
To: Gressitt,Stevan; pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us; rxnews at listserve.com
Cc: linkfilion at communityofcompetence.com; easmith at communityofcompetence.com
Subject: Re: [Pharmwaste] FW: Google Alert - unused medicine disposal

 

We have been receiving very interesting stories about unused and expired
medicines through our new patient safety reporting system called Share Our
Stories (S.O.S.).   One in particular deals with unused and expired meds
(UEMs) showing up at a weekend flea market...  

 

S.O.S. is an anonymous system for patients and families to report medical
adverse experiences as well as give us good suggestions about patient safety
and healthcare outcomes.  However, most of the reports that we have received
involved adverse medication events (drug interactions) or side effects that
presumably caused the patient to discontinue the meds (non-adherence) and
stockpile them at home or work.

 

 

Excerpt from original story:

 

I recently went to a local flea market and found many vendors selling
medicine. They ranged from tylenol, pepcid, zyrtec, prevacid, to robitussin.
Some of the medication, in fact most of it was expired. Some of the med
boxes had certain parts of the box torn off. Some of the boxes had a
statement that " The makers of Pepcid Complete od not manufacture store
brands." I would like to know what the quote means and would also like to
know what pottential risks there are to taking expired meds. I am a senior
nursing major and medicine is a big part of what 

I recently went to a local flea market and found many vendors selling
medicine. They ranged from tylenol, pepcid, zyrtec, prevacid, to robitussin.
Some of the medication, in fact most of it was expired. Some of the med
boxes had certain parts of the box torn off. Some of the boxes had a
statement that " The makers of Pepcid Complete od not manufacture store
brands." I would like to know what the quote means and would also like to
know what pottential risks there are to taking expired meds. I am a senior
nursing major and medicine is a big part of what I do. This recent discovery
troubles me. Please help. Thank you for your time.

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew C. Mireles, PhD, MPH

Community Medical Foundation for Patient Safety

 

 

 




 

-----Original Message----- 
From: "Gressitt, Stevan" 
Sent: Mar 21, 2010 6:26 PM 
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us, rxnews at listserve.com 
Subject: [Pharmwaste] FW: Google Alert - unused medicine disposal 



I would be interested if anyone runs into any other examples of this.

 

Stevan Gressitt, M.D., Medical Director

Office of Adult Mental Health Services

Department of Health and Human Services

Marquardt Building, 2nd Floor

11 State House Station

32 Blossom Lane

Augusta, ME  04333-0011

Ph: (207)287-4273

Fax: (207)287-1022

Cell Phone: (207) 441-0291

E-Mail : stevan.gressitt at maine.gov

http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mh/

 

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Compliance/EEO Coordinators, 11 SHS-221 State Street, Augusta, Maine 04333,
207-287-4289 (V), 207-287-3488 (V), 1-800-606-0215 (TTY).  

 


REDBRIDGE: Warning over bogus
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/5074
038.REDBRIDGE__Warning_over_bogus_medicine_collections/&ct=ga&cad=7:1:0&cd=g
0eIVl7uMXE&usg=AFQjCNFaI0W-njiVy2MmpHXVITwQa-T3Zg> medicine collections
Guardian Series
People with any concerns or questions on the scam or on the disposal of
medicines should speak to their GP or local pharmacist. ... 


 
<http://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news
/5074038.REDBRIDGE__Warning_over_bogus_medicine_collections/&hl=en> See all
stories on this topic 




-- 

Stevan Gressitt, M.D., Medical Director
Office of Adult Mental Health Services
Department of Health and Human Services
Marquardt Building, 2nd Floor
11 State House Station
Augusta, ME  04333-0011
Ph: (207)287-4273
Fax: (207)287-1022
Cell Phone: (207) 441-0291
E-Mail : stevan.gressitt at maine.gov

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