Hurdles Facing Unused Prescription Drug Repositories

pAmericans spend some $200 billion annually on prescription drugs. Since 1997, in an effort to keep a lid on costs, 37 states have enacted legislation allowing patients, their families and health care facilities to recycle good, unused pills through local pharmacies for donation to patients lacking sufficient insurance. Thousands of patients could in principle benefit from these ldquo;drug repositoryrdquo; laws. But as well intentioned as these efforts are, practical problems have prevented widespread implementation of such programs./ppThe guidelines for these laws, which began thanks to the lobbying efforts of families of cancer patients, are fairly consistent throughout the country. Donated medications must be in sealed, tamper-evident packaging and usually must be within no more than six months of their expiration date. Pharmacies are not held liable should the drugrsquo;s next owner come to unexpected harm from the medication. Some repositories accept cancer drugs only; others take all prescriptions (minus narcotics and sleep aids). Some states accept unused pills from home medicine cabinets, whereas others, as a safety measure, permit donations only from professional facilities such as nursing homes./p a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=spreading-the-health[More]/abr clear=both style=clear: both;/ br clear=both style=clear: both;/ a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:47864374efeca68240c1939d7cbe2bde:pPhMrHrPiCYhBdGiKD0p70kcmYNjrYvRlVtiELoQQKU32py9Mj%2Foc9TH2dHH4%2B16DA3b1bfaSZkg'img border='0' title='Add to digg' alt='Add to digg' src='http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/digg.gif'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:e814ee8a7003e66f43bc8be775904cc7:A5m2rDsIeTeQPNmb8LKNjDwh5PolnmeUZlPqiWzP4Nd%2F%2FOHnXTX5opMfpC8FHK9cTi2P3mYZeOO99w%3D%3D'img border='0' title='Add to StumbleUpon' alt='Add to StumbleUpon' src='http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/stumbleit.gif'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:f0c2ab794a9feaec2803f35130455045:zFrfOY14f5rxdOnZlcGGMJ%2FEnp2VkH2Eb8Ea%2FdwEMdHrL9tft3ih%2BFr0kz%2F8qeejkRb4jUKKaSsy'img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:9067a1218b232393881f618f3af4d93e:jMPYZlY2qLs%2F7M%2BO0rmRFIygAqEhTBbkHsl4%2ByvYQ5TrDsr%2BIGjxGZIgNNBWWwhf1EEbR8D31PkJDQ%3D%3D'img border='0' title='Add to Facebook' alt='Add to Facebook' src='http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/facebook.gif'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:adacc79841dcfbc1396186181967948f:QsOnfvQKYWxbk7Y%2BXhkwO6ql8hTO3WG93bXGevcdRZGqYQXvo3UP9ObnwJxAwOVYoSIKse4dWHNc'img border='0' title='Add to del.icio.us' alt='Add to del.icio.us' src='http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/delicious.gif'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:e9642a3d73c5dd60f45812a55c5e3250:wSko%2F9EODcQX9DrQS9etWs1H8k6Vz66i6yu%2FETFyCpMwqYjEFHdHv0dlriYMmfpaGnLLcSmr8kDQ'img border='0' title='Email this Article' alt='Email this Article' src='http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/emailthis.png'//a br clear=both style=clear: both;/ a href=http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=355b1be7cc2e55abde355d480b3a0a76p=1img alt= style=border: 0; border=0 src=http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=355b1be7cc2e55abde355d480b3a0a76p=1//a