[Pharmwaste] Washington Times piece on drug take-back and EPR

[Scott Cassel]

You are absolutely right Margaret. Thanks for the great before/after law comparison. These are important data to combat misinformation. Industry often makes the argument that people don’t use take backs, no matter the product, or the program is a failure, too costly, etc. – that is standard industry opposition to taking responsibility and working together with governments to achieve important goals. Data like yours needs to be continually pumped out by programs to show how program effectiveness continually improves if all parties do their thing.

Scott

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Scott Cassel ▪ Chief Executive Officer/Founder ▪ Product Stewardship Institute, Inc.
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Skype address: scott.cassel1


From: Pharmwaste [mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of Margaret Shield
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2018 5:08 PM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: Re: [Pharmwaste] Washington Times piece on drug take-back and EPR

Thanks for sharing this article Vivian.

I find one of the issues discussed in the article fascinating – that the pharmaceutical industry should not have to fund drug take-back programs because not enough pharmacies are currently participating in drug take-back programs.  It’s a chicken-and-egg argument gone haywire.

Pharmacists and pharmacies want to provide drug take-back services to their customers, but funding and logistics are barriers.  A key rationale for pharmaceutical stewardship ordinances has been to obtain the dedicated and sufficient funding needed to expand drug take-back programs from a small number of law enforcement collection sites and events to a larger and more convenient number of pharmacy and hospital drop box locations.  With dedicated pharmaceutical industry funding, mail-back services and improved program promotion are also possible.

We have good evidence from the local pharmaceutical stewardship laws enacted in WA state that we were right.  Voluntary pharmacy participation increases when there is dedicated funding and coordination provided by drug manufacturers.  In the WA counties with local Secure Medicine Return ordinances implemented, the number of secure drug drop boxes in pharmacies, medical clinics, and hospitals has dramatically increased. More pharmacy locations are joining the manufacturers’ MED-Project program with time. We hope to see this trend continue and especially want to see the national chain drug stores participate.

There are so many MED-Project drop boxes in our larger counties that I get worn out counting them, but I just updated my summary handout that lists current drug take-back services and compares to what existed before.
Direct link to my handout: https://www.cehstrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/WA_LocalSecureMedicineReturnRegs_Status.pdf
You can find other resources about WA drug take-back laws on my website, including policy summaries and links to details about each county’s program: https://www.cehstrategies.com/wa-drug-take-back-laws

Margaret Shield, PhD
Community Environmental Health Strategies, LLC
margaret.shield at CEHstrategies.com<mailto:margaret.shield at CEHstrategies.com>
mobile:  206-499-5452
www.CEHstrategies.com<http://www.cehstrategies.com/>

From: Pharmwaste <pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us<mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us>> On Behalf Of Vivian Futran Fuhrman
Sent: Tuesday, May 1, 2018 11:12 AM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us<mailto:pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
Subject: [Pharmwaste] Washington Times piece on drug take-back and EPR

Hi All,

I wanted to share this article that came out Thursday in the Washington Times titled, “Pharmaceutical companies, activists battle over cost, effectiveness of opioid takebacks”: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/26/battle-looms-over-cost-unused-drugs-opioid-war/.  PSI is quoted in paragraph six.

This was relatively fair coverage by a right-leaning publication.

Best,
Vivian
______________________________
Vivian Fuhrman, Ph.D.
Sr. Associate for Policy and Programs
Product Stewardship Institute, Inc.
29 Stanhope St., 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02116
P: (617) 236-4771 F: (617) 236-4766
www.productstewardship.us<http://www.productstewardship.us/>
vivian at productstewardship.us<mailto:vivian at productstewardship.us>
The Product Stewardship Institute, Inc. is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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