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<p class="MsoNormal">National Pharmaceutical Listserv,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Please find below and linked an article from Southern California Public Radio on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor’s proposed motion that would direct staff to consult with technical experts, conduct a study of the proposed medications
and sharps take back ordinance, and report findings and recommendations to the Board within 120 days. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The motion (ATTACHED) is <a href="http://bos.lacounty.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=w2NZSXaeftI%3d&portalid=1">
Agenda Item #22</a> of tomorrow’s Board meeting. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The KPCC coverage quotes Heidi Sanborn.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Please share widely and post comments.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">------<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="442" height="295" id="Picture_x0020_7" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D243F6.E78737A0" alt="69900 full"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:20.0pt;font-family:"Corbel",sans-serif;color:black">LA supervisors may study drug take-back ordinances. Again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131"><a href="http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/11/21/66283/la-supes-may-study-drug-take-back-ordinances-again">http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/11/21/66283/la-supes-may-study-drug-take-back-ordinances-again</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">Rebecca Plevin<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="inaugural" style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;background:white">
<span style="font-size:15.0pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is poised to take another stab at weighing the pros and cons of a mandatory take-back program for unused medications and old needles, lancets
and other medical "sharps."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:20.75pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">On Tuesday, the board will consider directing the departments of public health and public works to review the experiences of counties in California and elsewhere that require the drug
industry to pay for the collection and disposal of unused medicines and sharps.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:20.75pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">The motion, by Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Sheila Kuehl, would also ask county staff to get feedback from technical experts on a mandatory take-back ordinance the board shelved
in June. The public health and public works departments would have four months to report back on their findings and make recommendations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">The proposed ordinance the <a href="http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/06/14/61647/la-supes-set-aside-drug-take-back-proposal-for-now/"><span style="color:#31AAD3">board set aside</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:#31AAD3;text-decoration:none"> </span></span></a>would
have required drug makers to design and pay for a system of drop-off points for medications and sharps. In the face of fierce resistance from the pharmaceutical industry, the supervisors voted instead to let drug firms set up a public education campaign and
host quarterly take-back events.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">Tuesday's motion comes three weeks after the county's interim health officer, Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, said the pharmaceutical industry <a href="http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/11/02/65907/la-public-health-gives-voluntary-drug-take-back-pr/"><span style="color:#31AAD3">failed to
follow the board's guidance</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in establishing the take-back events and outreach effort.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">Kuehl and Supervisor Hilda Solis <a href="http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/10/19/65691/2-la-supes-criticize-industry-s-drug-take-back-eff/"><span style="color:#31AAD3">voiced similar concerns </span></a>about
the drug makers' performance last month.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:20.75pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">Ridley-Thomas said in a statement that county departments and the drug industry have debated the public health and environmental benefits of developing a take-back program for 18 months,
and "our next step is to engage academic and scientific experts to weigh in and share relevant data to help guide the County's approach."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:20.75pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">He noted that the public works department has raised concerns about the potential long-term impacts of drugs entering the water system, "but analysis thus far is inconclusive about the
potential impacts."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:20.75pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">Ridley-Thomas argued that it's unclear whether mandatory drug take-back programs prevent people from misusing prescription drugs and dying from drug-related deaths.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:20.75pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">But Heidi Sanborn, who advocates for the implementation of drug take-back programs as executive director of the National Stewardship Action Council, said she's concerned Tuesday's motion
could lead to "a rat hole of never-ending debate and study."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:20.75pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">The pharmaceutical industry has already agreed in court that drugs are impacting groundwater and drinking water, she said. Sanborn called the plan the county set aside in June "the best
ordinance in the country right now, by far."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:20.75pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#313131">Five Northern California counties require drug makers to pay for the collection and disposal of unused medicines; Santa Cruz' program includes sharps.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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