PSI’s Second Pharmaceuticals Stakeholder Dialogue Meeting

The Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) will hold the second in a series of four national, multi-stakeholder dialogue meetings on unwanted/waste pharmaceuticals on December 2-3, 2008, in Washington, DC. This meeting is sponsored by King Pharmaceuticals and follows directly on the extensive discussions held during the first meeting in Sacramento, CA, on June 19-20, 2008 (with over 120 participants) and subsequent workgroup efforts.



This meeting will focus on the regulatory barriers that take-back programs encounter, especially related to collection of unused controlled substances. State, local, and industry leaders, as well as representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the US Postal Service, and other federal agencies plan to attend.

The goal of this initiative is to develop and implement a nationally-coordinated system for the safe, practical, legal, and environmentally protective management, collection, and/or disposal of unwanted/waste pharmaceuticals. Many states and communities have already embarked on individual efforts to address this issue. While each state has its own unique considerations, they all must deal with the same basic issues, and many of these can only be addressed at the federal level. This national dialogue addresses a challenging and contentious issue in a collaborative, multi-stakeholder setting. PSI’s process provides all stakeholders with the opportunity to jointly define the problem, create the goal, identify key barriers, and prioritize solutions.

The dialogue will also explore strategies to reduce the quantity of pharmaceuticals that become waste.

Meeting information is at
http://www.productstewardship.us/PharmaceuticalMeetingWashingtonDC.