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A11062Assembly2009-2010 Session

Establishes the disposal of prescription drugs program

Sponsor Michael G. MillerAD-38Affects Health
Status
In Assembly Committee
Health
Impact
Pending
Passage
Pending

Bill progress

Step 2 of 7

In committee · Health

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Who cares

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Sponsors

Primary sponsor
Michael G. Miller

Assembly Member · Assembly District 38

History

  1. Referred to health

Full text

The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.

Sponsor's memo

BILL NUMBER:A11062

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing the disposal of prescription drugs program

Purpose or general idea of bill

To protect New York's health, all pharmacies would become disposal sites for prescription medications.

Summary of specific provisions

This bill adds article 2-b to the public health law.

Justification

Improperly disposing of prescriptions can pose several threats to public health and safety. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, some medicines are harmful or even fatal if used even once by someone other than the intended user. Simply flushing medicine is the surest way to avoid ingestion by the wrong person, but this yields undesirable environmental effects. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation notes that pharmaceuticals flushed down drains in your house eventually get into local rivers. They report instances of male fish producing eggs when exposed to the hormones found in birth control pills. The DEC also warns that long term exposure to low levels of antibiotics may result in the evolution of drug-resistant bacteria.

By instructing pharmacies to dispose of unwanted, expired, and unused pharmaceuticals, we can avoid the dangers of improper disposal of medications.

Prior legislative history

New Bill.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after becoming law.

Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.