Program to recycle unused drugs lags

There's no liability on the donor's part -- it's built right into the law.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Nursing homes and pharmaceutical companies have been slow to volunteer for a program that allows them to donate unused prescription drugs to needy Ohioans.
Only four nursing homes near Sandusky and two near Massillon are participating in the program, which Gov. Bob Taft signed into law in early 2003.
State Sen. Kirk Schuring proposed the legislation after hearing from a constituent with medicine leftover from his late wife's breast cancer treatment. The Canton Republican said he does not understand the reluctance to participate.
"There is always fear of liability," Schuring told The Plain Dealer for a story Monday. "That's why the law has built right into it that those who participate in the program will not be held liable, criminally or civilly, if there are any problems -- as long as there was no intentional tampering with the drugs."
Endorse program
The Ohio Pharmacy Board and the Ohio Department of Health endorse the program and have sent letters to nursing homes and pharmaceutical companies asking them to participate.
Diane Daniels, chief executive of the Western Stark Medical Clinic in Massillon, said her free clinic distributes about $8,000 a week worth of medicine for heart disease, high blood pressure, Alzheimer's, diabetes and other ailments.
Volunteers collect unused prescriptions from nursing homes and then separate the medications under the supervision of a pharmacist who checks the pills and gives them to poor patients.
"Our people have to choose between rent, heat, food and medicine," Daniels said. "They often go without medicine and end up in the emergency room. And here you have this perfectly good medicine going to waste.
Setting up donations
In Sandusky, Susan Daugherty, director of Serving Our Seniors, is working with Buderer's Compounding Pharmacy to establish a drug donation program.
"It costs thousands of dollars for commercial pharmacies, which provide large amount of medications to nursing homes, to destroy millions of dollars worth of pills," she said.
Matthew Buderer has been collecting castoff medications for several weeks. He will give the pills to needy Erie County residents who will have an identification card provided by Serving Our Seniors.
Schuring introduced a bill in December that would make the law mandatory and make holdouts that still refuse to donate drugs explain their reasoning.