<div style="text-align:left"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><p style="text-align:left;color:rgb(102,102,102);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);margin:0px;padding:0px"><span style="color:rgb(58,124,105)"><strong><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="4">Alameda County Pharma EPR </font></strong></span><strong style="color:rgb(58,124,105)"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="4">2nd Hearing</font></strong></p>
<p style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-align:center;margin:0px;padding:0px"></p><div style="color:rgb(102,102,102);text-align:left"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(58,124,105)"><strong>Today, July 24th</strong></span></span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(58,124,105)"><strong>11:00 AM (PT)</strong></span></span></font></div>
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<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" style="color:rgb(102,102,102)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"></span></font></p><div style="text-align:left"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" style="color:rgb(102,102,102)"><strong><a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=66178125&amp;msgid=705014&amp;act=OE7U&amp;c=647895&amp;destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acgov.org%2Fboard%2Fbroadcast.htm" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(181,200,194)"><span style="color:rgb(79,43,156)"><font size="4">Click Here to Watch Live Webcast</font></span></a></strong></font></div>
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<span style="font-size:15px"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="line-height:18px">Today, the Board of Supervisors will convene for the second reading and final vote on the proposed </span></span></span><span style="font-size:15px"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=66178125&amp;msgid=705014&amp;act=OE7U&amp;c=647895&amp;destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acgov.org%2Fboard%2Fbos_calendar%2Fdocuments%2FDocsAgendaReg_07_10_12%2FGENERAL%2520ADMINISTRATION%2FRegular%2520Calendar%2FMiley_Safe_Drug_Disposal_Ordinance.pdf" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(181,200,194)"><span style="color:rgb(79,43,156)"><strong>Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance</strong></span></a>.</span></span><span style="font-size:15px"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="line-height:18px">The ordinance was passed unanimously by a 5-0 vote at the first reading on July 10th. </span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">A broad group of stakeholders including is expected to testify.</span></span></div>
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<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" style="color:rgb(102,102,102)"><div style="font-size:13px;text-align:left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"> </span></div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><div style="text-align:left">
<br></div></span></font><p></p></div><div style="text-align:left"><b><font size="4">Front Page Article in the San Francisco Chronicle</font></b></div><div style="text-align:left"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Alameda-County-to-vote-on-drug-disposal-3726864.php" target="_blank">http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Alameda-County-to-vote-on-drug-disposal-3726864.php</a>
</font></div><div style="text-align:left"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><div style="vertical-align:baseline;line-height:19px;font-size:13px;margin:0px;border:0px;padding:0px"><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-size:1.25em;vertical-align:baseline">

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<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">With a law believed to be nationally unprecedented, Alameda County is about to tell the pharmaceutical industry it must pay to get rid of the unused pills in people&#39;s medicine cabinets.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">On Tuesday, the county&#39;s <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22Board+of+Supervisors%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Board of Supervisors</a> will cast its final vote on the Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance. It would require makers of drugs sold or distributed in Alameda County to pay for a countywide program to safely collect and destroy unused medications. Failure to obey will cost drugmakers $1,000 a day in fines.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Currently, residents can discard pills they no longer need at 28 drop-off locations, a publicly funded program that costs an estimated $330,000 annually.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">But the legislation&#39;s proponents argue that drug companies, not taxpayers, ought to bear the cost of cleaning up their products for the sake of the environment and their customers&#39; health.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">&quot;Ultimately, we just think it&#39;s something that should be the responsibility of the manufacturers, of the pharmaceutical industry that produces these medications that are at the end of their life cycle because they&#39;re expired or unwanted,&quot; said <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22Nate+Miley%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Nate Miley</a>, president of the Board of Supervisors and the ordinance&#39;s sponsor.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Old or unused pills can find their way into the hands of toddlers who snoop through medicine cabinets, teenagers who seek a rush from painkillers or senior citizens who inadvertently overdose. And without a proper means of disposal, drugs are often flushed down toilets and into waterways, where they can pollute the bay, environmentalists say.</font></p>

<h3 style="text-align:left;margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:16px;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The nation&#39;s first?</font></h3><p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px">
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But pharmaceutical industry officials say the law wouldn&#39;t necessarily prevent people from abusing pills and that most drug chemicals end up in the water through people&#39;s excretion.</font></p><p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px">
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The law, modeled on a program in British Columbia, is believed to be the first in the nation that would shift the cost of disposal to the pharmaceutical industry.</font></p><p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px">
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&quot;I do think it will create a groundswell of communities who will start looking at enforcing similar ordinances,&quot; said <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22Andria+Ventura%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Andria Ventura</a>, program manager for Clean Water Action, a water-pollution group that pushed for the law.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Under the ordinance, companies would have the option to run a program independently or with others. They would also decide how the program would work.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Manufacturers could provide prepaid envelopes in which people would ship off medications, for instance, or set up a series of drop-off locations. The drugmakers would also foot the bill for drop-off sites at sheriff&#39;s offices and police stations, since the state&#39;s drug laws only allow law enforcement officers to handle controlled substances such as Ritalin or OxyContin.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The law, Miley said, grew out of a demand from residents and local groups. Unintentional poisoning, including from prescription drugs, was the second-leading cause of injuries that resulted in death in the county from 2002 to 2004.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The legislation resonates with <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22April+Rovero%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">April Rovero</a> of San Ramon. After her son fatally overdosed on painkillers in 2009, she founded the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22National+Coalition%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">National Coalition</a> Against Prescription Drug Abuse.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">&quot;As long as medications are available in the home,&quot; she said, &quot;they&#39;re still accessible and available to those who might abuse them or take them indiscriminately.&quot;</font></p>

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Industry officials contend the law would disproportionately burden businesses.</font></p><p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px">
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&quot;Everyone involved with the supply chain - up to and including patients who get these medications, and local governments who have a responsibility for waste disposal - everyone should somehow be involved in developing a program that will accomplish its goals and be user-friendly so that it can be effective,&quot; said <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22Consuelo+Hernandez%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Consuelo Hernandez</a>, vice president of state government affairs for the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22California+Healthcare+Institute%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">California Healthcare Institute</a>, which lobbies on behalf of nearly 300 biomedical companies and research institutes.</font></p>

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<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22Kent+Olson%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Kent Olson</a>, executive medical director of the<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22California+Poison+Control+System%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">California Poison Control System</a>, said pharmaceutical companies have little financial incentive to take back pills. &quot;They can&#39;t reuse pills, and they would have to store them safely and find some place to put them, which takes a lot of money,&quot; he said.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Without steady private funding, a permanent drug-disposal system is not feasible, the legislation&#39;s proponents say.</font></p>

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What Alameda County is trying has also been proposed in San Francisco.</font></p><p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px">
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A year and a half ago, the city considered requiring pharmaceutical companies to provide ways to dispose of drugs. In a compromise, the city&#39;s Department of the Environment launched a pilot drug-disposal program in pharmacies and police stations this spring. It is backed by $110,000 from Genentech and the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22Pharmaceutical+Research+and+Manufacturers+of+America%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America</a>.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">When the grant runs out, it is not clear whether the city will continue the program. More than a ton of pills has been hauled away so far, a sign the effort is succeeding in a way that others, including prepaid envelopes and one-time collection events, have not, city officials say.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">&quot;It looks like the program is collecting a lot of medicine and offering a solution that residents are looking for,&quot; said <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22Guillermo+Rodriguez%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Guillermo Rodriguez</a>, the department&#39;s policy and communications director.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The solution also appeases environmentalists, who worry that medications poured down the drain harm the environment.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">&quot;What we know is that, not necessarily all these drugs, but many of these drugs are not broken down during the wastewater treatment or even the drinking water purification process,&quot; said <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22Martin+Mulvihill%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Martin Mulvihill</a>, executive director of UC Berkeley&#39;s <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22Center+for+Green+Chemistry%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Center for Green Chemistry</a>.</font></p>

<h3 style="text-align:left;margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:16px;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">More data needed</font></h3><p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px">
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Meg Sedlak, a program manager at the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22San+Francisco+Estuary+Institute%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">San Francisco Estuary Institute</a>, which studies the San Francisco Bay, said her group has found &quot;very low concentrations of pharmaceuticals&quot; in the water. However, she said, there is not enough data to understand the effects of long-term exposures to those chemicals.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Earlier this month, Alameda County supervisors unanimously voted to move the Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance forward. But Miley, its sponsor, said he&#39;s not taking Tuesday&#39;s vote for granted.</font></p>

<p style="text-align:left;margin:0px 0px 13px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font-style:inherit;font-size:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;outline:none 0px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">&quot;Industry keeps saying they&#39;re going to oppose it and fight it and throwing up obstacles as opposed to just embracing it,&quot; he said. &quot;My constituents, their consumers, are asking for this.&quot;</font></p>

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<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&amp;action=search&amp;channel=health&amp;search=1&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;query=%22Stephanie+M.+Lee%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Stephanie M. Lee</a> is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: <a href="mailto:slee@sfchronicle.com" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">slee@sfchronicle.com</a>Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/stephaniemlee" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(1,86,96);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">@stephaniemlee</a></font></p>

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Evin Guy</div><div style="text-align:left">Program Manager, Teleosis Institute</div><div style="text-align:left"><a href="http://www.teleosis.org/" target="_blank">www.teleosis.org</a> | <a href="mailto:evin@teleosis.org" target="_blank">evin@teleosis.org</a> | <a href="tel:510-558-7285%20x104" value="+15105587285" target="_blank">510-558-7285 x104</a> </div>
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