[Pharmwaste] Vermont Govenor Calls for Prescription Limits, Increased Take Back

[Ed Gottlieb]

Remarks of Governor Peter Shumlin
State House, Montpelier, January 7, 2016
Excerpt from Governor Shumlin's State of the State speech, [ http://www.2016stateofthestate.com/speech ]:
·        Second, let’s go after the source that led us into this mess in the first place. It’s difficult for me to find words that adequately express my frustrations but I can find the three letters that are at the root of the problem: F.D.A. In the 1990s, the F.D.A. approved OxyContin, which lit the match that ignited America’s opiate and heroin addiction crisis. In 2010, we prescribed enough OxyContin to keep every adult in America high for an entire month; by 2012 we issued enough prescriptions to give every American adult their own personal bottle of pills. On television, Americans now see commercials for drugs whose sole purpose is to help relieve side effects from taking opiates – in other words there are now F.D.A. approved drugs to help you take more F.D.A. approved opiates. A few years ago, the F.D.A. approved Zohydro, which is OxyContin on steroids, against the recommendation of their own advisory committee. Just a few months ago, the F.D.A. approved OxyContin for kids. You can’t make this stuff up. The $11 billion-dollar a year opiate industry in America knows no shame. Compassionate pain management has been transformed by big PHRMA into drug promotion and profit. Until America is willing to have an honest conversation about the way we are dealing with pain our challenges will continue. In light of this, I am implementing the following:


o   First, we are putting an end to the system where doctors, dentists, and health care providers send patients home with 80 or 90 pills in their pocket. I am proposing a new system, where a maximum of 10 pills will be the limit for minor procedures. We’re also looking at reasonable limits for more major procedures that provide pain relief without filling up our medicine cabinets with unused opiates. That’s just Vermont common sense.


o   Second, we are partnering with pharmacies and local communities to expand drug take back programs, to get rid of Vermont’s Most Dangerous Leftovers.


o   Third, we are partnering with neighboring states to upgrade the Prescription Monitoring System to prevent addicts from crossing state borders to go pill shopping.

I ask for your support in these actions.

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
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