[Pharmwaste] Chemo Drugs?

[Volkman, Jennifer (MPCA)]

If I was in a position to offer guidance to these patients, I would tell them not to take that stuff home unless the oncologist or clinic agreed to take back any unused chemo medication. I say no, all of our guidance says, no, don’t accept it. I think most places will take it back. The first clinic that called me to find out how to take back pharms wanted to specifically take back chemo meds, which I thought was great. But I know of one person on the list serve that had a doctor call who was upset that collection sites didn’t take chemo. Any doctor who thinks it make sense to expose people to this toxic formulation by putting it in collection bins needs to spend about 30 seconds thinking about potential exposure and liability, and you can help them with that.

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, May 21, 2012 1:49 PM
To: ANGELA Deckers; pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: Re: [Pharmwaste] Chemo Drugs?




Angela,

Because chemo drugs are considered toxic, we advise people to return any remaining chemo drug (with packaging, infusion pump, etc.) back to the oncologist or the location where the drug was dispensed.  We looked at this issue several years ago with respect to toxic chemical exposure to volunteers who would be handled returned drugs.  It's not just an environmental concern but also an occupational exposure concern.



Matthew Mireles






-----Original Message-----
From: ANGELA Deckers
Sent: May 21, 2012 11:41 AM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us<mailto:pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
Subject: [Pharmwaste] Chemo Drugs?


Just a clarification from collection programs out there:

Do you accept chemo drugs in your drop-off programs at police stations? If so, are there special requirements for how residents should handle these and subsequently, how police personnel should handle them?

Please respond to me directly at adeckers at cityofboise.org<mailto:adeckers at cityofboise.org>

Thanks for your time.


Angela Deckers
Hazardous Materials Coordinator
Boise Public Works
adeckers at cityofboise.org<mailto:adeckers at cityofboise.org>
208.384.3983
208.433.5650 fax
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