[Pharmwaste] FW: Google Alert - unused medicine disposal
Barry Fernandez
Barry at clean-fuels.net
Wed Mar 24 10:18:12 EDT 2010
Stockpiles of expired OTC meds can only be coming from one of very few
places. Disposal facilities or reverse distributors. I'm not
suggesting that the businesses themselves are involved in the diversion,
but as with any business, inventory sometines tends to "leak" at the
hands of employees. If I were you I'd get in touch with the agency
tasked with regulating drugs and cosmetics in your state. In Florida it
happens to be the Department of Health, division of Medical Quality
Assurance (MQA). They can track where the meds originated using the lot
numbers. Expired is one thing, but if these medications were recalled
for some reason the risk to the unsuspecting public could be deadly in
some cases.
Best Regards,
Barry
Clean Fuels of Florida, Inc.
D. Barry Fernandez, President
2635 NE 4th Avenue
Pompano Beach, FL 33064
Tel: 954-791-9588
Fax: 954-791-9366
Cell: 305-216-4941
Toll Free: 800-725-8711
barry at clean-fuels.net <mailto:barry at clean-fuels.net>
www.clean-fuels.net <http://www.clean-fuels.net/>
________________________________
From: Sue Dayton [mailto:sdayton at swcp.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 9:29 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/
Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any
attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). It may
contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized
review, copy, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you
are not the intended recipient, please note that any dissemination,
distribution or copying of this is strictly prohibited. Please contact
me by reply e-mail or telephone and destroy all copies of this message.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) does not
discriminate on the basis of disability, race, color, creed, gender,
sexual orientation, age, or national origin, in admission to, access to,
or operations of its programs, services, or activities, or its hiring or
employment practices. This notice is provided as required by Title II
of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and in accordance with
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, the Age Discrimination Act of
1975, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Maine Human
Rights Act and Executive Order Regarding State of Maine Contracts for
Services. Questions, concerns, complaints or requests for additional
information regarding the ADA may be forwarded to DHHS' ADA
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 medicine collections
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/
5074038.REDBRIDGE__Warning_over_bogus_medicine_collections/&ct=ga&cad=7:
1:0&cd=g0eIVl7uMXE&usg=AFQjCNFaI0W-njiVy2MmpHXVITwQa-T3Zg>
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. ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/
news/5074038.REDBRIDGE__Warning_over_bogus_medicine_collections/&hl=en>
--
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
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/pipermail/pharmwaste/attachments/20100324/53c1f733/attachment.html
More information about the Pharmwaste
mailing list