Concerned by rising rates of prescription drug abuse, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced Monday that it would permit consumers to return unused prescription medications like opioid painkillers to pharmacies.
The move is intended to help reduce stockpiles of unneeded medicines in homes, which are often pilfered by teenagers. Under the new regulation, patients and their relatives will also be allowed to mail unused prescription drugs to an authorized collector using packages to be made available at pharmacies and other locations, like libraries and senior centers.
The new regulation, which will go into effect in a month, covers drugs designated as controlled substances. Those include opioid painkillers like OxyContin, stimulants like Adderall and depressants like Ativan.
Until now, these drugs could not legally be returned to pharmacies. The Controlled Substances Act allowed patients only to dispose of the drugs themselves or to surrender them to law enforcement.
While many questions remain as to how this government program will be managed and enforced, the effort to reduced “unused” prescriptions medications makes sense. Perhaps they should add a “refund” component to the program? As an incentive to return potential dangerous prescription medications, like opioids, give a “cash refund” on unused pill quantities turned in.
Click on the following link to learn more:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/09/health/unused-pills-return-to-pharmacies.html?smid=fb-share&_r=1&referrer=What do you think? Good idea??
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