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S.F. supervisor proposes drugmakers fundtake-back programBy Stephanie M. Lee Updated 6:03 pm, Monday, October 20, 2014

After Alameda County became the first in the nation to require pharmaceutical companies to pay for a drug take-back program,

San Francisco may follow suit.

Seeking to prevent overdoses and reduce contaminants in water, Supervisor David Chiu told The Chronicle he will introduce

legislation before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday that would require drugmakers, and no longer taxpayers, to fund the disposal

of unused and unwanted medications.

Because a similar proposal was recently defeated in the California state Legislature, a successful passage in San Francisco could

inspire other counties, one by one, to implement their own laws, proponents of the program say.

San Francisco first tried to pass a drugmaker-funded take-back program in 2010, but under industry pressure, it established a

slimmed-down version that does not require pharmaceutical companies to participate. Then, two years ago, Alameda County set

up its own program that made companies’ participation mandatory — and, despite an industry lawsuit, a federal appeals court

upheld the law last month.

That legal decision, Chiu said, appears to put San Francisco on safe legal ground to require pharmaceutical companies to

participate, too. Like Alameda County, he said, San Francisco is confronting prescription drug abuse, which public health officials

consider to be the fastest-growing drug problem in the nation, accidental overdoses by children and senior citizens, and

wastewater treatment facilities that are not designed to filter pharmaceutical chemicals.

The pilot program has been successful, he said, but it does not go far enough. “Much of the costs are still being borne by taxpayers

rather than the industry that is creating the cost,” Chiu said, “and it’s my perspective that we ought to see producer responsibility

IMAGE 1 OF 5Marwan Nasrah puts unused pills into a drug disposal box at Daniel’s Pharmacy in S.F.

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to address the problem when the residents don’t know what to do with unused and expired medications, which often end up in

unintended hands or in public waterways.”

“The program needs to be significantly expanded to offer adequate and convenient disposal options to residents throughout the

city.”

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry trade group, has argued that disposal of unwanted

medicines should be a shared responsibility, that take-back programs unfairly require drugmakers to develop and fund them, and

that higher costs would ultimately be passed on to consumers.

A spokeswoman said the organization had not seen the legislation, but remained concerned that a take-back program could add

costs to the health care system.

San Francisco’s pilot program, which consists of drop-off sites at nearly two dozen independent pharmacies and police stations,

has collected more than 37,000 pounds of medications over the last two years. It costs roughly $162,000 a year to operate, most of

which, according to the city, is unreimbursed city staff time. The rest of the funding comes from the industry’s trade group.

Chiu’s law, if passed, hopes to set up take-back sites at all retail and health care facilities that sell drugs. It would require

drugmakers that make drugs sold in San Francisco to pay all administrative and operational costs of the program.

In addition to Alameda County, King County in Washington has also passed a mandatory drug take-back program. Both are based

on a law in British Columbia. California state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, introduced a proposal to make such a

program statewide this spring, but it failed to pass out of committee.

Now that the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has maintained that Alameda County’s ordinance treats all

drugmakers equally and does not place a significant burden on interstate business, other counties could follow suit, said Heidi

Sanborn, executive director of the California Product Stewardship Council, which advocates for manufacturers to pay for the

disposal of drugs, paint, batteries and other hazardous products.

“As some free themselves from fear, it’s going to free others and I think the floodgates are open,” she said.

Stephanie M. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: slee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @stephaniemlee