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<P><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=2><FONT face=arial,sans-serif>Marti,</FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt"><FONT size=2 face=arial,sans-serif>Solid medicines are administered orally as powders, pills, cachets, capsules or tablets. These are technical classification of the form in which medicine is produced and marketed. Tablets and capsules currently account for more than 2/3 of total number and cost of solid medicines produced globally. Tablet is defined as a compressed solid dosage form containing medicaments with or without diluents. It's easier to mass produce, package and distribute tablets and capsules. Many peoplegroup them boardly into "pills". When we refer to "pills" in the National Unused and Expired Medicines Registry, we include tablets, capsules and pills. From various sampling, we don't get much powders or pills, except products categorized as CAM: alternative and complementary medicines (herbals, teas, extracts, etc.). Yes, people are returning supplements and CAM along with their unwanted meds and some illicit "recreational" drugs.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt"><FONT size=2></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt"><FONT size=2>Tablets come in various shape, size and weight, depending on the actual amount of medicinal substances and the intended mode of administration. Tablet is the most popular dosage form and accounts for about 70% of the total solid medicines dispensed in US and abroad.</P>
<P><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=2><FONT face=arial,sans-serif> </P></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt"><FONT size=2 face=arial,sans-serif>For our data analysis, we followed the consensus of the MBSG steering committee to collect at minimum 5 essential variables (name of drug, strength, quantity returned, reason for return, zip code). For reliability, only the <STRONG>quantity return</STRONG> for solid medicines (pills, tablets and capsules) was selected for quantitative analysis. We estimate the proportion of wasted medicine by the quantity and extrapolated standard packsize (what we expect the original quantity of medicine should be on an average based on drug name and strength; reference Red Book). We performed a small closed population study to compare our "guessing" with the actual prescription quantity on the label. The correlation was 0.96. We continue to study our extrapolation method to further validate our protocol.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt"><FONT size=2></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt"><FONT size=2>As you can see, we don't particularly get involved with weight of medicine so much as others who directly deal with collection, handling, disposal and destruction of the drugs. Weight or volume are used to price the cost of shipment and incineration. However, we have been asked occasionally to give an estimate of the collected medicines in the Registry. For this, we use a standard weight reference from an international health group that declared <STRONG>300mg </STRONG>as the "average" weight of a "pill", based on the common aspirin. Subtracting this calculated total weight for "pills" from the total weight of the entire sample of packages with the pills would provide a crude weight for packaging materials. To answer your answer regarding a "consensus", the answer is "no". </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt"><FONT size=2></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt"><FONT size=2>A good contact for this discussion is the Green Pharmacy folks in CA. I just reviewed a paper by Joel Kreisberg and Ilene Ruhoy that describes a pilot drug collection program in the Bay Area, 2009-2010. They did an outstanding job characterizing each returned medicine (solid, liquids, gels, etc.). The data collection was robust to include actual prescribed quantity (number of pills) and the type of materials (glass, foil, paper, plastic) and estimated proportion of packaging materials. We only reviewed the final draft. I'm not sure if this paper with final corrections is publicly available. Please contact Dr. Joel Kreisberg for more info, <A href="mailto:drkreisberg@teleosis.org">drkreisberg@teleosis.org</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt"><FONT size=2></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt"><FONT size=2>I'm sorry for the long answer to your short question. Have you registered your unwanted meds collection events/program in the National Directory of Drug Take-Back Programs? We are releasing our Second Edition of the National Directory with more than 400 registered events and programs around the country. This Directory will go to the city and county health and waste management departments. </FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt"><FONT size=2>Matthew Mireles</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px">-----Original Message----- <BR>From: Marti Martz <MAM60@PSU.EDU><BR>Sent: May 31, 2011 11:18 AM <BR>To: pharmwaste@lists.dep.state.fl.us <BR>Subject: [Pharmwaste] weight of packaging vs weight of pills at collection events <BR><BR><ZZZHTML><ZZZHEAD><ZZZMETA content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"></ZZZHEAD><ZZZBODY bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">Hello All,<BR>I am involved in unwanted meds collection events around the Great Lakes through a GLRI funded project titled "Undo the Great Lakes Chemical Brew: Proper PPCP Disposal." At some of these events it is possible to separate packaging from pills, at others it is not. I'm looking for a general consensus on weight of pills vs. weight of packaging. Does such a formula exist?<BR>Marti Martz<BR><BR><BR>On 5/27/2011 10:32 AM, Tenace, Laurie wrote:
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<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)">Anyone in CA want to discuss this? What will the display materials say?</SPAN></P>
<H3 style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in">San Francisco To Launch Waste Medications Take Back Scheme<?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></H3>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in">On Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved proceeding with a trial program for the collection of expired and unwanted prescription drugs. The pilot takes effect on December 1 of this year. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in">Under the plan, pharmacies will be required to post "display materials" about the safe disposal of unused prescription drugs by the aforementioned date. Pharmacies not complying with the require would first receive a warning then be subject to a fine. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in">The plan was approved by the San Francisco Small Business Commission and is receiving funding by the pharmaceutical industry. Recently enacted California SB 966, tasks CalRecycle with developing criteria and program models for collecting and disposing of waste pharmaceuticals statewide. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in">For more information visit <A href="http://www.sfbos.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/bosagendas/materials/bag052411_110025.pdf" moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.sfbos.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/bosagendas/materials/bag052411_110025.pdf</A>. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)">Laurie<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times
New Roman','serif'; COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)">Laurie Tenace<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)">Environmental Specialist<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)">Waste Reduction Section<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)">Florida Department of Environmental Protection<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)">2600 Blair Stone Rd., MS 4555<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)">Tallahassee FL 32399-2400<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)">P: 850.245.8759<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)">F: 850.245.8811<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)"><A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.us">Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.us</A> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)"><A class=moz-txt-link-freetext href="http://www.dep.state.fl.us/">http://www.dep.state.fl.us/</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times
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<DIV><BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Courier New; FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><EM><FONT size=2 face=Arial>The Department of Environmental Protection values your feedback as a customer. DEP Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr. is committed to continuously assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you. Please take a few minutes to comment on the quality of service you received. Simply click on <A href="http://survey.dep.state.fl.us/?refemail=Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.us" target=_blank moz-do-not-send="true">this link to the DEP Customer Survey</A>. Thank you in advance for completing the survey.</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Courier New; FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><EM></EM></DIV></DIV></DIV><PRE wrap=""><FIELDSET class=mimeAttachmentHeader></FIELDSET>
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</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><PRE class=moz-signature cols="72">--
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Marti Martz
Pennsylvania Sea Grant
301 Peninsula Drive, Suite 3
Erie,Pa 16505
<A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:mam60@psu.edu">mam60@psu.edu</A>
Phone:814.217.9015
fax 814.217.9021
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