The ‘Witches Brew’ Of Drugs In The Water Supply
34 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // September 23rd, 2011 // 8:12 am
As a steady stream of studies and investigations reveal the extent to which pharmaceuticals are found in the US water supply (see this), a new bill has been introduced in Congress that would create a non-profit organization to develop a nationwide program for disposing of medicines. And the non-profit would be financed by the pharmaceutical industry.
“The need for a safe drug disposal program has never been greater. In a 2008 investigation, pharmaceutical contamination was found in 24 out of 28 metropolitan areas drinking water,” says Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, a New York Democrat who introduced the bill, in a statement. “Aquatic wildlife, whole ecosystems, and our communities own drinking water can never escape this witch’s brew of pharmaceuticals.”
Known as the Pharmaceutical Stewardship Act, the non-profit would also establish a commission to develop a strategy for preventing pharmaceutical contaminants from polluting waterways during the production process. For instance, a newly released study indicates that active pharmaceutical ingredients were linked to changes in sexual characteristics of a type of fish in a river in France where a Sanofi plant is located (look here).
As part of its proposed mission, the non-profit would assess hazards and strategies for reducing the risks associated with the misuse of prescription meds, including diversion, overdose, and accidental poisoning; address sources of contamination, including development, manufacturing, disposal, and metabolic processing; and make recommendations on minimum environmental standards for disposing of drugs by incineration or other means.
The non-profit, which would be called the National Pharmaceutical Stewardship Organization, would be overseen by a commission consisting of the heads of different federal agencies, including the FDA, the Centers for Diease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency would act as administrator.
As for drugmakers, they would be required to participate and fund the effort, and the non-profit administrator would select which drugmakers would have representation on the non-profit board. This structure would allow the industry to have a permanent voice in determining how the disposal program would be structured and how their funds would be used to carry out the mandate.
Drugmakers can choose not to participate, but the bill then requires participation in another certified stewardship program. Those drugmakers that do not cooperate and refuse to join any program may face a penalty of up to $50,000 for each day the company does not participate in another such program, according to the proposed legislation (you can read the legislation here).
A spokeswoman for Slaughter stresses that this would not be a government-run program, because the goal is to give drugmakers enough flexibility to implement the agenda. “It establishes a non-profit corporation that will be managed and financed by drug producers, so that they can control their own funds and operate the program as efficiently as possible in the private section,” she writes us. The cost, she adds, would be determined based on the market share of drugs involved in the program.
“This is a good first step,” Mae Wu, an attorney in the environmentl and health program at the National Resources Defense Council, tells us. “We like the fact that it requires the drugmakers to put up money to address the problem.” The NRDC is one of a handful of organizations that has lined up to back the bill. The others include the Science and Management of Addictions, Product Stewardship Institute, Food and Water Watch and Environment America.
Certainly, pharmaceutical waste - in whatever form - is an issue that needs to be addressed. Whether this is a useful approach remains to be seen. Although $8 million would be appropriated each year to oversee the program, the effort may win backing on Capitol Hill since the bulk of the financing would come from industry. On the other hand, industry may argue this is another tax; their funds would not be treated as charitable donations. Then again, industry involvement can also be used to polish its tarnished image. What do you think?
Is the Pharma Stewardship Non-Profit A Workable Solution?
- Yes (52%, 44 Votes)
- No (48%, 41 Votes)
Total Voters: 85
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Salient point
Oh look. A new regulation proposed by a member of the minority party in the House. How cute.
original industry insider
Timothy Leary suggested that we add LSD to the water supply. We didn’t have to. Half the world seems to be psychotic these days anyway.
Observer
And what is salient about your point, SP?
Justice in MI
Same question as Observer’s.
Is this about trashing Democrats, regulation in general, or anything about this particular bill?
dzieczko
A good start would be to focus on getting rid of those molecules that have *black box* warnings.
Dan
I would think to make any serious impact, we’d have to restrict urination into the sewer system by anyone taking a prescription medicine. Of course, we’d then have to figure out what to do with all those jugs of yellow liquid.
CPhT
Sure safe drug disposal is a good idea, but I have to agree with Dan about all the un-metabolized drugs that are excreted in urine.
Mike
I agree with Dan and CPhT. You also need to include the contribution of active metabolites of the original API in the “waste stream” ;-).
dzieczko
har de har har - aren’t you all a bunch of *p-ss ers* on a Friday…
no one knows how to retrieve the molecules, do they?
so I suggest we send the jugs of yellow liquid to Dan and he can head up the research department :-)
original industry insider
Don’t forget about two other serious environmental contaminated to marine seafood-the high radioactivity leveles in Japanease seafood resulting from the Fukshima nuclear explosion, and the oil contamination of the Gulf oysters from the Deep Water Horizon spill. The government should have banned oysters until at least 2020 since it takes five life cycles of the oyster to be 100% sure they are clean. Of course if the government did that they would put the Gulf shellfish industry out of business.
Dr. Andrew Weil also reminds us that mercury is now a fresh water contaminant in addition to a marine contaiminant. Interestingly per my point above, Dr. Weil was a former student of Dr. Timothy Leary, and was experienced in the use of hallucinogens. You can read more about his college exploits in the “Harvard Psychedelic Club”.
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA335644
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/books/review/Murphy-t.html
Angry Pharm.D
the ONLY proper way to dispose of unused medicine is to incinerate it with other medical waste
pharmafun
Do we have any sense of the relative contributions of waste from the production process and excreted metabolites?
original industry insider
pharmafun, that would be great to know, but until then, as they say, we’re just pi**ing in the ocean.
original industry insider
Now that the space program is being privatized, maybe we can package all this waste into satellites and launch them into space. They will orbit harmlessly for ages. We could even interest the military if we can somehow package them into satellite-launched ICBM’s. If the blast didn’t kill the enemy the waste contaminants might.
Pharman
Remove the 90-day RX quantities. How much $$ has been wasted on a 90-day RX only to have the drug or dose changed shortly after the pt. received the orig. RX? I bet it’s hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Niether Pharma nor mail order want this spoken of b/c it decreases sales.
Maybe States should license people’s houses as pharmacies due to all of the excess meds. they have.
In MN, our pharm. association has attempted to write legislation reducing drugs’ environmental impact, but you can guess who’s been against it.
original industry insider
Pharman, 90 day quantities are beneficial for patients, as you only have one copayment that is identical to the copay for a 30 day supply. You did give me an idea, however. Similar to the amnesty programs for surrenduring your handguns, maybe we could get people to surrender their excess pills for some type of discount coupon.
ideola
Was thinking along same lines as OII - provide some incentive to patients to return unused medicines. Noticed my local pharmacy holding a”Dispose of Your Old Medicines” day. The proposed non-profit org could work through local pharmacies. Would it ever be cost-effective for pharma companies to recover starting materials from old medicines? Perhaps certain classes of molecules?
original industry insider
Ideola, the only time the drug company wants your medications back is when there is a recall. I’ve been through a few of these. Unfortunately we can’t recycle old drugs like we can old tires. It would be costly rather than cost effective since we then would have find a way to dispose of them.
dzieczko
@pharmafun - the excreted metabolites is what is being measured by human supply water monitoring groups, so the data is there.
The levels are high in major metropolitan areas worldwide. High enough to be impacting aquatic life forms.
Clean up is not a”non-profit” business because of the variety of resources that have to be brought together - human and equipment and the intersecting technology between the two.
woop
Does this report indicate that used toilet water is being processed and re-used?
original industry insider
I’ll bet if we could somehow get the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater folks involved, they could bring some environmental activism to this thing.
http://www.clearwater.org/about/welcome-aboard/
dzieczko
You make no sense, OII.
On the one hand, you say it’s too costly to dispose of old and unused meds and then with the other hand you post an *environmental activism* site. How’s a 3rd grader supposed to make it cheaper to do what has to be done?
original industry insider
dz I’ll get back to you after checking with my buddy Pete Seeger. BTW, in case you haven’t learned, the urinary system is not the only system for excreting drugs, and that’s a problem too. Maybe some of you might be intersted in making a contribution to science by spending a week or two in a human metabolic chamber so that we can measure the relative contribution of all of your waste products after dosing with various types of drugs. It’s nice and toasty in there and it’s all you can eat and excrete. You can wave to me through the plexiglass.
It’s more of a contribution than many of you seem capable of making on these boards.
original industry insider
Woop, you nailed it. It’s all the fault of those “low fow toiles” that were introduced several yewars ago, which put out a measly 2.5 gallons per flush rather than the previous hearty 5-6 gallons/flush. Because of the reduced volume of water/flush the metabolites get more concentrated, and thus more toxic. Although I support environmental causes the best anser really would be to encourage worldwide global warming, which would melt all of the glaciers, raise the ocean levels, and thus dilute out all of these toxins. Nominate this guy for a Nobel Prize!
Justice in MI
I don’t suppose it occured to anyone that folks also flush toilets upstream where, according to the French study Ed links, there were very few of the changes in fish downstream from the plant.
Sometimes one has think outside the bowl.
original industry insider
JiM, someone stole your idea. “Think Outside the Bowl” is a bathroom product that combines a commode with an aquarium, thus you can “fish while you flush”.
http://www.inventhelp.com/fish-n-flush.asp
dziezcko
You have no clue who you are talking to, do you?
Education, experience, etc.
However, yours is spilling over the sides so low flush isn’t the only problem…
original industry insider
dz, you’re right. You don’t know me either, but I’ll tell you that 28 years in the heavyweight boxing ring otherwise known as Corporate Big Pharma, and part time industry shill for Wall Street fatcats has left me “flush”. What can you say for your career?
Ed Silverman
Hi Folks,
Interesting comments and insights here, but let’s please try to stick to the topic at hand.
Thanks
ed
original industry insider
To get back on topic, this is a wheel that does not need to be reinvented. Ex US countries already have what are called Extended Producer Responsibilities (EPR’s) or “take backs”, which are regulatory requirements for manufacturers to take back certain end-of-life products in order to reduce environmental waste. Any of this activity that currently occurs in the US is voluntary. EPR’s can be tweaked for the US and enacted into law, requiring drug companies to enact take back programs, perhaps with certain financial incentives, and with financial penalties for noncompliance. Would not address the problem of human waste, but would be a start. Here’s the EPR link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_producer_responsibility
dzieczko
to OII - I didn’t sell my soul, you have to present a musician friend as a sign that you have a soul.
You *heavy boxers* shut down all the sane research 10 years ago - empty pipelines is proof.
So you got a plan/process for getting the molecules out of the water?
Didn’t think so. But hey, funnel another 1.1 billion of stimulus money to a *non-profit* that does no basic research.
dzieczko
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/29/10/1768.abstract
Like the Brookings Institute needs 1.1 billion of stimulus $$$ - how did that help Wall Street *inwestors*?
Are they going to hire boots on the ground to get people to stop flushing their meds? Too expensive, right?
Look, it’s nothing PERSONAL, it’s just *business*, OII.
Salient point
My initial point is that nothing is more pointless than a bill proposed by a member of the House minority. It will never be brought to the floor. It can’t be part of a filibuster compromise, since that only happens in the Senate. It’s basically just a way for a legislator to pander to a specific cause.
An intellectually dishonest one at that–where was the interest in this back when the Democrats actually did control both houses? As Ed points out, this has been a point of interest for a few years now.
As it stands, this bill seems like a waste of time &, 33 comments in, that’s rather unfortunate.
Paul-Theodore de Tocqueville
It fills one with despair to read the silly and illogical comments made by so many people who have written here. The educational system has failed the American citizens of today, compared to those of earlier times going back to the birth of the nation, and the political polarization has destroyed their capability to think logically.