County Holds First Reading of Medication Disposal Ordinance

On Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors will hold the first reading of the county's .

If adopted, Alameda County would be the first county in the nation to make pharmaceutical companies responsible for disposing of unused and expired medications.

The ordinance requires drug manufacturers to provide a medication take-back
program, just like they already do in other countries including Canada, Spain and France.

Currently no mandatory state or federal program exists to safely collect unwanted drugs and to properly dispose of them. This first-in-the-nation ordinance requires drug producers to dispose of unwanted household medications.

Manufactures and producers of drugs would be required to finance and operate the collection of unwanted prescription medications for proper disposal and pay for all costs associated with complying with this ordinance.

The series of meetings convened by Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley’s office begining in late April were designed take a closer look at a new countywide policy that has sparked national attention around extended producer responsibility.

After holding its , a was received by the board.

In a three-page letter drafted by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufactures of America (PhRMA), which represents the country’s leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies, an official said the ordinance is "impractical and will have numerous unintended consequences, including possibly increasing health care costs, risking access to medicine and unintentionally increasing the diversion of medicines."

Close to 30 sanitary district department heads, elected officials and organizations across Alameda County have sent in letters of support for the ordinance.

the plan is sponsored by District 4 Supervisor Nate Miley and The Medication Education Disposal Safety Coalition (MEDS). It's also supported by several work group organizations wanting to hold pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors responsible for the safe disposal of medication.

The reading will be held 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 10 at the county's Board of Supervisors Chambers located at 1221 Oak Street (fifth floor).