Add Art 2-B §§290 - 294, amd §3343-b, Pub Health L
Enacts the drug take back act requiring certain manufacturers to operate a drug take back program to accept and dispose of covered drugs; provides that for any city with a population of one hundred twenty-five thousand or more as of the last decennial census, the commissioner of health shall establish by regulation a distribution plan that ensures that on-site collection receptacle or dropbox placement shall be reasonably accessible to all residents.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9576B
SPONSOR: Gunther TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
enacting the drug take back act
PURPOSE:
To establish a statewide drug take back program for the safe disposal of
drugs.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one provides the bill shall be known as the Drug Take Back Act.
Section two adds a new Article 2-b to the Public Health Law which
provides for the safe disposal of drugs statewide. Under this Act,
manufacturers of covered drugs must either submit, individually or
jointly, a drug take back program for approval by the Department of
Health, or enter into an agreement with the Department to operate a drug
take back program on its behalf. Under such program, manufacturers are
responsible for all administrative and operational fees associated with
their take back program, including the cost of collecting, transporting
and disposing of covered drugs from pharmacies and other authorized
collectors and the recycling or disposal, or both, of packing collected
with the covered drug. This Act further requires chain pharmacies and
.mail-order pharmacies to provide for the collection of covered drugs by
providing consumers with on-site collection, prepaid mail-back envelopes
or other Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) approved methods.
Section three amends Public Health Law § 3343-b to make conforming
changes.
Section four provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York, like the rest of the nation, continues to struggle with the
opioid addiction crisis. Despite our best effects to stem the tide of
opioid related deaths by, among other things, increasing access to
Naloxone, enacting I-STOP to prevent doctor shopping, limiting initial
prescriptions to 7 days, and changing the Insurance Law to make treat-
ment more accessible, the number of deaths continue to rise. It is well
known the first supply of opioids is often leftover medication a family
member or friend received and did not use. To cut off this supply, we
must make the take back and disposal of these drugs more prominent and
accessible.
In addition to getting excess drugs out of medicine cabinets where they
are ripe for abuse, a statewide drug take back program will help ensure
these and other drugs are not improperly disposed by flushing or other
means that results in harm to our water bodies and impacts aquatic life.
Last year New York made a historic investment in improving and protect-
ing our water, keeping drugs out of our water supplies is another impor-
tant and necessary step.
While law enforcement agencies have drop-off points and elected offi-
cials hold drug take back days that help properly dispose of many drugs,
more must be done. Chapter 79 of the Laws of 2015, allowed pharmacies
and other DEA authorized collectors to collect unused controlled
substances in New York. While this was an important step in making it
easier for people to take back their unused medications, voluntarily
participation remains low. The Department of Environmental Conservation
recently announced a pilot program that provides take back receptacles
at participating pharmacies, hospitals and long-term care facilities,
but again this program is voluntary and limited in scope. Meanwhile, a
recent effort to require chain pharmacies statewide, and mail-order
pharmacies, to participate in drug take back was vetoed by the Governor.
Product Stewardship is the concept that whoever manufactures, produces,
or sells a product take responsibility for minimizing the product's
environmental impact throughout all stages of the products' life cycle,
including its disposal or destruction. Over the years, New York has
developed product stewardship programs for products such as electronic
waste, rechargeable batteries, and mercury thermostats. Drug steward-
ship programs are however, still largely in their infancy. In 2012,
Alameda County, CA became the first government to pass legislation
requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to design, fund and operate a
program to safely collect and dispose unwanted drugs. Alameda's program
withstood court scrutiny, with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals find-
ing its provisions did not violate the Dormant Commerce Clause. On May
26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States denied certiorari.
The Alameda case paved the way, with now nine counties in California and
more recently the state of Massachusetts and several counties in New
York adopting similar programs. However, many of the existing drug
stewardship programs continue to rely solely on voluntary retail partic-
ipation, which has already proven to be low in New York. Retail partic-
ipation is critical in reaching consumers and getting the most benefit
from a take back program. Just as individuals can return tires, car
batteries and motor oil to the businesses they purchased them from, New
Yorkers should be able dispose of drugs, or obtain a prepaid mail-back
envelope, at a pharmacy. Thus, this legislation will provide for
unified, statewide drug take back, to be paid for by manufacturers, and
require participation of chain and mail-order pharmacies. Manufacturers
will be responsible for all costs from public education and awareness to
collection, transport and destruction, and pharmacies will provide meth-
ods for convenient drop-off and collection.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately; provided, however, that the amendments to subdivision 1 of
section 292 of the Public Health Law as added by section two of this
Act, shall take effect 180 days after enactment.
