date, 2010. take back your meds a presentation by
TRANSCRIPT
Take Back Your Meds
Your Name HereA Presentation by
What is The Take Back Your Meds Campaign?
Take Back Your Meds is a group of health organizations, environmental groups, police, drugstores, local governments, and others demanding a state-wide program for the safe return and disposal of left-over medicines.
WA has one of highest teen prescription drug abuse rates – 12 percent.
Three out of five Washington teens say it is easy to get prescription pain relievers from medicine cabinets.
17,000 calls to WA Poison Center for kids under age six about prescription drugs in 2009.
32 percent of child poisoning deaths in WA caused by prescription medicines; 26 percent of child poisoning deaths caused by over-the-counter drugs.
Epidemic of medicine abuse & accidental poisonings
Secure Storage & Safe Disposal
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“Today, prescription drug abuse is considered the fastest-growing drug abuse problem
in the country…without question, getting old, unused, or expired drugs out of medicine cabinets is critical.”
- US Attorney General Eric Holder, Sept. 10, 2010
Changing the way we think about medicines…
“Many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards.”
DEA:
• Trash cans are not secure. • Crushing and disguising pills
can be dangerous!• Toxic leftover medicines should
not go in solid waste landfills.• Doesn’t ensure medicines
won’t get into the environment.• Kitsap & Snohomish County
ordinances do not allow disposal of medicines in garbage.
Problems with trash disposal of medicines
• “Pharmaceuticals have become a significant water pollutant nationwide.”
‒ President’s Cancer Panel, 2008-2009 Annual Report
• About one-third of medicines sold go unused each year.
• Roughly 33 million containers of medicines in WA.
Drugs in our environment…
Thurston Co. Sheriff – 1200 pounds in Jan-Sept 2010.
Snohomish Co. Sheriff –1000 pounds in first nine months of program.
8,931 pounds in four hours across WA on Saturday Sept. 25th, DEA Take-Back Day.
Group Health & Bartells: > 50,000 pounds collected at 39 pharmacies since Oct 2006.
WA medicine collection results
11www.takebackyourmeds.org
Medicine return locations in Washington state
FEDERAL RESTRICTION – only law enforcement authorized to collect controlled substances.
FUNDING – burden currently on local governments, law enforcement, pharmacies. Many existing programs struggling for funds.Most communities cannot afford.
Federal Law changed
Barriers to a state-wide medicine take-back program
2SHB 1165 / 2SSB 5279 in 2010 session
Require drug companies selling medicines in Washington to pay for and provide a secure take-back program.
• NOT a new govt-run program
• State government oversight
• Helps our communities
WA’s Secure Medicine Return Bill
> $4 billion
$451 million
~ 100 million
= annual Prescription and OTC medicine sales in Washington
= amount companies spend promoting drug sales in WA annually
= estimated # of containers of medicines sold each year in WA
How much are we asking the drug companies to pay?
about 1.5 cents per container would fund a statewide take-
back program
Other funding sources are inadequate, mostly short-term, unstable, and piecemeal.
Long-term, sustainable funding needed – linked to product sales.
Pharmaceutical companies profit most from drugs sales. (77 percent of prescription cost returned)
Pharmaceutical companies provide drug take-back programs in other countries.
Why is it the producer’s responsibility for medicine return?
Overprescribing/Overpurchasing. Patient doesn’t finish. Changes in medications. Medicines expire. Lots of medicines needed during
serious illness, but patient recovers.
Lots of medicines, including strong pain relievers, needed for end-of-life care.
About one-third of medicines sold to households goes unused
“This is about saving even just one life…if we can dispose of cans and bottles and oil from our car properly, why can’t we dispose of something
the size of a dime that can kill you?”
‒ Bernard Strain, whose teenage son Timothy died last year after accidentally taking prescription methadone pills that had been sitting in a medicine cabinet.
New York Times, September 24, 2010
Why Take Back Your Meds?
We need a long-term solution! Take Back Your Meds supports a system which would require
pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide and fund take back programs throughout Washington state. The programs we have now cannot be financially sustained.
Local governments, retailers and taxpayers should not have to shoulder the financial burden while those who profit ignore the problem.
Take Action!
Find out more at www.takebackyourmeds.org. Get the latest information by becoming a fan of our Facebook
page – Takebackyourmeds. Follow us on Twitter – @takebackurmeds.
Take Action!
Snoqualmie Valley Youth Councils speak: What can we do to help you (student leaders) to address the
misconceptions about prescription medications and the use of them by your peers?
Natural Helpers trainings for students in the programs must include information about prescription drug use/abuse and what to do if a student needs help.
Gym/Health teachers can provide more information to students.
Have this issue included in school assemblies and go directly to students. This will touch all students and not just the ones seeking help or connecting to a Natural Helper.
Have panel speaker’s events to talk to students, the message from those who have been affected carries more weight than a brochure.
