[Pharmwaste] RE: Pharma May Pay to Dispose of Your Old Medicines

VeoraLittle at aol.com VeoraLittle at aol.com
Wed Nov 24 17:13:28 EST 2010


Jennifer, 
I totally agree on all counts especially Thanksgiving.  You all work  so 
hard for the well being of our world. I am thankful for all of you as  well.
 
 
Veora  M Little, CRNA, 
Operation Medicine Cabinet, Volunteer Coordinator, Collier  County Florida
h 239-649-6042 c 239-450-2883
_veoralittle at aol.com_ (mailto:veoralittle at aol.com    
www.drugfreecollier.org) 

www.drugfreecollier.org  

 
In a message dated 11/24/2010 10:31:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
Jennifer.Volkman at state.mn.us writes:

Nooooooooo! They have to include controlled substances!  What  part of this 
do people not get? The environmental argument for collection is  not as 
strong as the arguement to reduce the potential for poisoning, abuse  and 
overdose. Just move the collection site to law enforcement. When/if the  rules 
change on possession of CS, move it to the pharmacy.

But they are  talking and that is good.

Happy Thanksgiving to  all!
JV

________________________________________
From:  pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us  
[pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of Tenace, Laurie  [Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us]
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 9:24  AM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: [Pharmwaste] Pharma May  Pay to Dispose of Your Old  Medicines

http://www.baycitizen.org/health/story/pharma-may-pay-dispose-old-medicines/


Pharma  May Pay to Dispose of Your Old Medicines

Faced with the prospect of  being forced to pay for the disposal of unused 
medications, pharmaceutical  companies in San Francisco appear to be getting 
on board with an effort to  create a voluntary cleanup program.

The Board of Supervisors had been  scheduled to vote Tuesday on the San 
Francisco Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance,  which would require pharmaceutical 
companies who sell their products in the  city to pay for a program to help 
consumers dispose of unused drugs. If the  measure were to be approved, San 
Francisco would become the first city in the  country to create such a 
mandatory program.

Instead, Supervisor Ross  Mirkarimi, who authored the legislation, 
announced at Tuesday's meeting that  he'd recently met with "several dozen 
representatives of the pharmaceutical  industry" in an attempt to create a voluntary 
pilot program. The supervisors  agreed to put off the issue for two weeks to 
allow the negotiations to  proceed.

Under one of the plans being discussed, one pharmacy in each  of the city's 
supervisorial districts would voluntarily collect unused drugs,  as long as 
they're not controlled substances like oxycontin, according to  Melanie 
Nutter, director of San Francisco's Department of the Environment, who  is 
participating in the talks. Five police stations in the city would also  
participate, since they would be able to take controlled  substances.

The pilot program in San Francisco would be largely  financed by the 
pharmaceutical industry, but would cost the city some money  because Environment 
Department staff would spend time administering  it.

San Mateo County currently offers drug disposal at police  departments in 
more than a dozen cities, including Atherton and South San  Francisco. That 
program has collected 15 tons of old drugs over the past four  years at a 
cost of just $60,000, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. No  other Bay Area 
county has a year-round drug take-back program.

The goal  of such programs is to help prevent both accidental poisonings 
and  environmental contamination from leftover drugs. Nationally, an estimated 
 71,000 children are seen in emergency rooms each year because of 
medication  poisonings, unrelated to recreational drug use, according to the Centers 
for  Disease Control and Prevention. More than 80 percent of those poisoning 
occur  because an unsupervised child found and consumed medicine.

When people  do try to get rid of their old drugs, they often don't know 
what to do with  them. Wastewater treatment plants are not equipped to filter 
out medicines, so  drugs flushed down the toilet or poured down sinks can 
end up contaminating  local waterways, including San Francisco Bay. When pills 
are thrown in the  trash, they can leach into the environment via landfills.

"We want to  protect the natural environment and our water by making sure 
pharmaceuticals  don't end up there," Nutter said.

For the past year and a half, San  Francisco has offered residents the 
opportunity to mail away their expired  antibiotics and unused Prozac for 
incineration. So far, about 9,000 envelopes  have been distributed, but each one 
costs the city $3.75. "It's a very costly  program," Nutter said. But the 
popularity of the program - which was not  widely publicized - has left the 
city looking for a more sustainable  solution.

"San Francisco is surrounded by water and you've got a very  
environmentally aware public," said Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the  California 
Product Stewardship Council, who has advised San Francisco on drug  disposal. 
"You've got the public demanding a program, because they're  concerned 
about their water quality, but there's no money."

The  pharmaceutical industry has made clear it would be loath to conform to 
a  variety of local ordinances.

"In discussions with San Francisco  officials, we've offered to assist them 
with an interim pilot program to help  us learn more about proper disposal 
of unused medicines before implementation  of federal regulations," reads a 
statement e-mailed to The Bay Citizen from  the Pharmaceutical Research and 
Manufacturers Association of  America.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is currently working  to create 
national rules that "will provide uniform nationwide standards and  will allow 
us to avoid a confusing patchwork quilt of differing state and  local 
pharmaceutical take-back programs," read the statement. The new  guidelines are 
not expected to be completed for months.

The San  Francisco Board of Supervisors will hear more about the issue on 
Dec.  7.

Laurie Tenace
Environmental Specialist
Waste Reduction  Section
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone  Rd., MS 4555
Tallahassee FL 32399-2400
P: 850.245.8759
F:  850.245.8811
Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us

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