[Pharmwaste] Dr. Stevan Gressitt

Fri May 12 16:14:54 EDT 2017

            I am very sad to share that Dr. Stevan Gressitt passed away March 13th, 2017.  I don't know what motivated me to search for information on him today, other than the fact I hadn't seen anything posted by him to this list for a long time.  Needless to say, this was not what I hoped to find.  His obituary is below my comments.

            Dr. Stevan Gressitt was one of the early members of the pharmwaste list server, dating back at least to June 2005 near when the list began.   The very first conference I attended on the environmental effects of pharmaceuticals was organized by Dr. Gressitt on October 23-24, 2006 and held in Portland Maine.   It was very informative and really opened my eyes to other problems with pharmaceuticals that I hadn't even thought about.  The gathering allowed for me to meet him, and also Laurie Tenace, who managed the pharmwaste list in Florida until her retirement September 2016.

            Dr. Gressitt was in the forefront of creating ways to reduce the impacts of drugs on the environment.  He suggested that doctors reduce the number of pain killers and benzodiazepines that were prescribed, started drug take-back events, and created the first pilot mail-back program for Maine that an EPA grant helped fund.  A lot of what we do today with pharmaceutical disposal is the result of his efforts.

            I enjoyed his dry sense of humor, and his gentle urgings to make things happen.  I'm sure many others on this list remember Stevan for a myriad of reasons as well.   I'm glad to have known him, and so sorry that he is no longer with us.

http://obituaries.centralmaine.com/obituaries/mainetoday-centralmaine/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=184653743

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STEVAN EDWARD GRESSITT, M.D.1950 - 2017 UNITY -

Stevan E. Gressitt, M.D. died unexpectedly on Monday, March 13, 2017. Family, friends and local, national and international colleagues are shocked and saddened.Born in Yreka, Calif., Stevan was the son of John and Doris (MacKellar) Gressitt. He graduated from the Porter Gaud School in Charleston, SC, from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. He served as Chief Resident in Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass. and as Massachusetts Clinical Fellow in Psychiatry at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.Moving to Maine in 2001, Stevan was an active supporter of the Maine Association of Psychiatric Physicians, and served as Councilor, committee member and committee Chairman at various times. He was involved in many other professional organizations, such as the American Association of Community Psychiatrists, the Maine Medical Association, the Maine State Psychiatric Working Group (Drug Utilization Review Committee), the International Pharmaceutical Federation (Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Environment and Pharmaceutical Section), and the Maine Health Workforce Forum, Maine Office of Rural Health and Primary Care. Stevan founded the Maine Benzodiazepine Study Group, and worked passionately for a better understanding of the adverse effects of prescription medications and for practices that are more effective, safe and cost-effective.

He tirelessly promoted the awareness of adverse environmental consequences of inappropriate medication disposal, including pharmaceutical contamination of ground water streams and rivers. He promoted the practice of initially prescribing in smaller amounts, to reduce the volume of unused medication that could be diverted or be the cause of accidental poisoning. He pioneered medication take-back events that many communities now sponsor, and that provide data to illuminate issues of waste, fraud and abuse in prescribing practices.He was an exceptional psychiatrist, with great vision, dedication and relentless energy and courage. As one colleague stated, "These qualities have sometimes taken him off in the direction of roads less travelled. But looking back, it's not so much that Dr. Gressitt marches to the beat of a different drummer, but rather that he hears long before the rest of us drumbeats we all eventually realize we must heed."

Stevan was a principled man, and a loving and deeply devoted husband, son, brother and father. He was also endlessly quirky, making no two days with Stevan the same. He would take a break from psychiatric articles to spend half an hour with his ducks; he would become fascinated by the beauty of a feather, or the form of an egg. He had no interest in living in a home without dogs and cats, and took great pleasure in their presence and the way they lived their lives. He was a complicated being, and the most interesting companion his wife has ever known. She, and his family and friends, miss him deeply. He is survived by: his wife, Gail M. Chase; his mother, Doris M. Gressitt; his sister, Alexandra S. Gressitt; and his daughter, Carina A. Gressitt.No funeral service will be held. There will be a celebration of Stevan's life that will be held in the spring, in central Maine. Contact Gail Chase: gchase at uninets.net<mailto:gchase at uninets.net>
.

Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov<mailto:Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov>
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov<http://www.deq.virginia.gov/>
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permits
Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program
PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents
http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028      FAX:      804-698-4032

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