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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 28, 2013 04:24 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Richard L. Alloway, II |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | PHARMACEUTICAL STEWARDSHIP ACT |
| In the near future, I will be introducing legislation to implement a Pharmaceutical Stewardship Program in Pennsylvania. This legislation would give consumers a means to dispose of unwanted pharmaceuticals through a convenient, efficient, and safe disposal program. From 1999 to 2009, the number of prescriptions dispensed in the United States increased from 2.8 billion to 3.9 billion and approximately 45% of these prescriptions went unused. These unwanted pharmaceuticals are stored in medicine cabinets, disposed of with the household trash, or flushed down the toilet. Research conducted by the United States Geological Survey for traces of pharmaceuticals in water samples downstream from wastewater treatment plants where native fish populations exhibited low male-to-female sex ratios and fish having both female and male reproductive organs. One-day pharmaceutical collection events have been held throughout the Commonwealth and have raised awareness but are only able to collect a small amount of unwanted pharmaceuticals. This legislation would establish a program to require that all manufacturers in the Commonwealth participate in a pharmaceutical stewardship program so that manufacturers accept the responsibility in reducing the environmental impacts of their products. These programs will include collection sites, mail-back options, safe-handling systems, and environmentally sound disposal methods for unwanted covered drugs from residential sources. |