[Pharmwaste] Prescription Drug Takeback Programs & Substance Abuse Policy

Fri Mar 2 12:47:36 EST 2012

Dear Mr. Laris,

I'm sure you recall that I provided you with information about the
costs and results of the drug takeback program run by the CSMD in
Tompkins County, NY.

I read the Policy Brief for your examination of prescription drug
takeback programs at http://carnevaleassociates.com/takebacks.

In the opening summary paragraph, Carnevale says, "In addition, we
found no evidence that takeback programs affect prescription drug
abuse."  I'm quite shocked to read this very misleading statement!  It
creates the strong impression that you looked at evidence and concluded
that takeback programs do not affect prescription drug abuse.  This is
not the case.

In this same Policy Brief, in the paragraph titled, "Assessing
Takebacks: Little is Known" you state, "In fact, no research has been
conducted to investigate takebacks’ effect on prescription drug abuse."
If no research has been done on the question, a neutral conclusion would
be appropriate.  Wouldn't a more accurate summation be, "Data doesn't
exist to determine if takeback programs affect prescription drug
abuse."?

I hope you be able to address this issue in a meaningful way.

Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Ed Gottlieb
Chair, Coalition for Safe Medication Disposal
Industrial Pretreatment Coordinator
Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility
525 3rd Street
Ithaca, NY  14850
(607) 273-8381
fax: (607) 273-8433

>>> "Zachary Laris" <zachary at carnevaleassociates.com> 5/5/2011 1:34 PM
>>>
Thank you Mr. Gottlieb, this is most helpful.

Best,
Zach

Zachary Laris
Junior Policy Analyst
Carnevale Associates, LLC
Mobile: (202) 230-7664
Zachary at carnevaleassociates.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Gottlieb [mailto:egottlieb at cityofithaca.org]
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 10:25 AM
To: Zachary Laris
Subject: Budget reports.

Mr. Laris,

I am attaching budget reports for all three collections.
Additional materials were donated by various agencies involved:  small
plastic bags (a no longer used type), flier printing (about 200 color
pages), poster printing (9, 2x3'), disposable rubber gloves, tape, etc.

I still hope to get you a total hours worked & paid hours (including
at
least some with $/hr) report for the April 9th collection.

Best,

Ed

>>> "Zachary Laris" <zachary at carnevaleassociates.com> 5/4/2011 10:32 AM

>>> >>>
Mr. Gottlieb,

I am most appreciative of your time and assistance in sending along
the
information on your take back events.  This provides great insight into
the
workings of your program.  Unfortunately, an honorarium is not
something my
firm can provide.  If you are interested in providing further
information to
assist in take back cost effectiveness research we would be greatly
appreciative.  However, we fully understand that your time is valuable
and
that may not be possible.  Either way, thank you again for your help.

Best Regards,
Zach

Zachary Laris
Junior Policy Analyst
Carnevale Associates, LLC
Mobile: (202) 230-7664
Zachary at carnevaleassociates.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Gottlieb [mailto:egottlieb at cityofithaca.org]
Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 9:08 AM
To: Zachary Laris
Subject: Re: Take Back Follow Up

Dear Mr. Laris,

I am sending you data on individual contribution weights (with
packaging),
survey results, and final reports for our three events.  I am also
sending
the hours worked data that I have (haven't collected this information
for
our third event, though I could), some expense reports, some photos,
and
other information.  All will be attached in multiple emails to assure
they
are not over any delivery limit.

As far as I have been able to determine, our first event collected
more
weight of medications than any other one day, one location collection
in the
nation.

To see the seven part "how-to organize a pharm waste collection video"
we
had made go to:
http://www.takebacknetwork.com/about.html
This URL also has a link to the inventory data base spreadsheet we
developed.  This contains the detailed inventory data from our second
and
third events (sort by date.)

I would be happy to respond more fully to your request.  For example, I
know
you want to know the hours worked for the third event and how many of
the
reported hours worked were paid and at what rate.  I could also answer
further questions by phone or email, provide more event photos (at
higher
resolution), etc.  I am wondering if a small honorarium might be
available
to justify the additional time commitment?

Regards,

Ed Gottlieb
Industrial Pretreatment Coordinator
Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility
525 3rd Street
Ithaca, NY  14850
(607) 273-8381
fax: (607) 273-8433

>>> "Zachary Laris" <zachary at carnevaleassociates.com> 4/27/2011 12:22
PM
>>> >>>
Mr. Gottlieb,

Thank you for discussing Ithaca's take back program with me this
morning.
Carnevale Associates specializes in substance abuse policy, and we are
gathering information on take back programs nationwide as part of an
inventory and assessment of current programs.  Specifically, we are
interested in understanding program costs, and linking those costs to
outcome measures wherever possible.  Our ultimate goal is to gain an
understanding of the most cost-effective take back program components.

I would love the opportunity to take a look at any and all survey
information your program has gathered, as well as data on what
particularly
your program has collected at the events.  If it would be possible for
you
to provide more detailed cost information regarding each individual
event
(staff time and cost breakdowns for each event, ad costs, materials,
destruction, etc.) that would be most helpful.  Also if you have any
thoughts you'd like to share generally about programmatic changes
you've
implemented as you've held programs and learned ways to improve them.

Because we're performing this work under contract, the reports
generated
remain the property of our client.  As a result, we are not permitted
to
share them.  However, I'm happy to report your interest and pass along
your
contact information.  As a matter of policy, we do not disclose our
client
information for specific projects.  We work for a variety of
organizations
including the federal government, state and local governments, academic
and
other non-profit institutions, and private industry.  If you're
interested
in taking a look at a (non-exhaustive) list of our clients and the type
of
work we have done in the past, you can take a look at our website
<http://www.carnevaleassociates.com/> .  Carnevale Associates also
plans to
stay involved with take back issues after this project ends, and I'd be
more
than happy to send you any subsequent in-house materials that we
produce in
this area.  Thank you again for your time and assistance.

Best Regards,

Zach Laris

Zachary Laris

Junior Policy Analyst

Carnevale Associates, LLC

Mobile: (202) 230-7664

Zachary at carnevaleassociates.com

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