Washington News: Pilot Program Aims to Provide Safe Options for the Disposal of Household Pharmaceutical Waste

July 1, 2007 5:05 pm

Published in the July 2007 Washington State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter

The Board is part of a pilot program to collect and appropriately dispose of waste medications from household users. The Board has partnered with the Washington State Department of Ecology, King County Local Hazardous Waste Program, and many other agencies and nonprofit organizations. This pilot program, Pharmaceuticals from Households: A Return Mechanism (PH:ARM), intends to show the safety and effectiveness of a collection program at pharmacies over a two-year period.

The Board has worked to ensure that security measures are in place to prevent diversion of the drugs while keeping convenient public access. The Board has asked Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to waive existing federal law and allow approved pharmacy sites to collect unwanted CS and other medicine. This program sparked significant national attention due to the groundbreaking work to include all pharmaceutical products. No other program has been implemented in the United States.

This is a pilot program with only a few operating sites. Still, nearly 1,000 pounds of waste pharmaceuticals have been collected and destroyed over the past six months. If this program were implemented statewide, 100,000 pounds of drug waste would be collected each year in Washington State. This waste would have otherwise been disposed of in the wastewater systems (toilet) and in landfills (garbage).

Our current wastewater treatment centers cannot remove many of these chemicals. Current disposal methods contaminate our lakes, streams, and wells. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that drugs caused 94% of all unintentional and undetermined poisoning deaths in 2003. Drug poisonings added $26 billion in medical expenses in 2000.

DEA estimates that much of this drug supply is diverted for illicit use. Appropriate drug storage and disposal should lessen these social costs.

The Board has authorized seven collection pilot sites at selected Group Health Cooperative (GHC) pharmacies in Washington. You do not need to be a member of GHC to dispose of your unwanted drugs in the collection bins. If DEA grants the Board a waiver, the program will expand to 25 GHC and 35 Bartell Drug retail pharmacy sites. The pilot program plans to include a collection program for nursing homes and boarding homes.

Many pharmacies want to participate in this pilot or similar programs. The Board must receive the waiver from DEA before expanding the program. Most of the funding for the sites has been provided by local agencies and private conservation foundations.

Additional funding will be needed for 2008. The PH:ARM implementation team intends to develop sustainable funding methods for a permanent statewide program.

You can contact the Board office with additional questions and find the current collection site locations on the Board Web site, or visit www.medicinereturn.com.