Pharmacies would have to take back hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of unused prescription drugs each year — saving the medication from the public water cycle — under a bill that cleared its first legislative hurdle Wednesday.
Nursing homes could return unopened pills, lotions and liquids bought by the state with Medicaid dollars, and the pharmacies would have to refund the state’s money.
Right now, the cash and the unused medicines are flushed down the drain, contributing to a growing water contamination problem caused by medical and household products, said Sen. Lois Tochtrop, sponsor of Senate Bill 190.
In her office, she milled through a box full of examples of unused, individually wrapped pills: “Vicodin, Ativan, another Vicodin.”
“A lot of these that are destroyed are psychotropics, which are very expensive,” said Tochtrop, D-Thornton.
Mandating refunds could save the state more than $400,000 a year on its Medicaid bills, legislative analysts estimate. The proposal cleared a Senate committee on a 4-3 vote, despite arguments from Republicans such as Sen. Bill Cadman of Colorado Springs that returning and redistributing drugs is unsafe.
“Who’s liable if something bizarre happens?” Cadman asked.
Pharmacists see logistical problems with processing returned medications as well, which is why most do not issue refunds even though state law allows it, industry advocates say.
State and federal laws require assisted-living facilities and nursing homes to destroy unused medication each month. And common practice is to wash those pills and syrups down the drain to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
Trace quantities of medications and other personal products have appeared in some of Colorado’s most remote waters and have drawn attention recently because of media reports, said Steve Gunderson, head of the Colorado Water Quality Control Division.
Research has not yet determined how many of the thousands of chemicals in Colorado’s water come from pharmaceuticals, let alone the effect of dumping prescription pills.
“But clearly a portion of pharmaceuticals that get into the wastewater stream come from drugs flushed down the drain,” Gunderson said.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
