[Pharmwaste] How Should Drug Take-Back Work?

[hksanborn at comcast.net]

Ed- we did not know who else was asked to respond and I agree with your response to the pharma quote.  I hope people post this comments on the Healthline website as that is where health industry workers will see them.  Heidi

Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 30, 2015, at 11:36 AM, Ed Gottlieb <EGottlieb at cityofithaca.org> wrote:
> 
> California Healthline "Think Tank" discussion: How Should Drug Take-Back Work?
> http://www.californiahealthline.org/think-tank/2015/how-should-drug-takeback-work
> 
> Overview story then three panelists provide their opinions.
> 
> I strongly disagree with John Murphy (Assistant general counsel, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America), especially:
> "mandated take-back programs will increase the burden on the environment, because individuals will have to travel to drop-off sites and a completely new waste disposal infrastructure will have to be created. Collecting medicines in identifiable drop-off sites will also increase the risk for diversion of medicines for drug use disorders."
> I venture to say that the other panelists would have offered rebuttals, similar to the following, if they had been given the chance. 
> 
> 1. With EPR, most drop offs will be at pharmacies where the environmental burden of travel will generally be non-existent since drop off will almost always be combined with shopping trips.  
> 2. Infrastructure costs, such as drop boxes and warehouses, will be moderate and can be amortized over many years. 
> 3. Collecting medications in identifiable drop-off sites will decrease the risk of diversion.  It is well established that the majority of prescription medications that are illegally diverted are obtained from homes.  As take back programs reach additional communities and become more convenient, increasing amounts of unwanted medications will be removed from homes and easy access.
> 
> 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
> ---
> Note: As a courtesy to other listserv subscribers, please post messages to the listserv in plain text format to avoid the garbling of messages received by digest recipients.
> ---
> TO SUBSCRIBE, go to:   http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharmwaste 
> TO UNSUBSCRIBE, DO NOT REPLY TO THE LISTSERV. Please send an e-mail to pharmwaste-unsubscribe at lists.dep.state.fl.us -- the subject line and body of the e-mail should be blank.
> If you believe you may be subscribed with a different email address, please visit the subscriber listing at http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/mailman/roster/pharmwaste 
> FOR PROBLEMS:  Contact List Administrator Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us 
> SEND MAIL to the list server at:  pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/pipermail/pharmwaste/attachments/20151130/32488f37/attachment.htm