Kentucky State Senators Alice Forgy Kerr and Ralph Alvarado champion a bill to prevent drug overdoses and deaths that begin in the home medicine cabinet.
Frankfort, KY – March 13, 2018 — Kentucky State Senator Alice Forgy Kerr is leading the way to make Kentucky the first state to curb opioid addiction and related deaths through her sponsorship of Senate Bill 6 that provides a safe and environmentally conscious disposal solution to permanently sequester opioids and other commonly abused drugs.
This groundbreaking legislation requires that pharmacists make available to patients an in-home solution for sequestering leftover drugs that is easy, convenient, inexpensive and prevents abuse and environmental pollution. When medication is sequestered or captured in a biodegradable disposal gel such as DisposeRx, no harmful substance remains to be extracted or abused.
According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, 70 percent of heroin addictions, overdoses and deaths are initiated by the abuse of opioid painkillers that remain unused in patients’ medicine cabinets. Kentucky ranks 5th in the US in terms of per-capita deaths due to drug overdoses, with over 1,500 deaths in 2016 alone. Most resources to stop the opioid epidemic are directed towards expensive addiction treatment programs where the likelihood of success is relatively low (<30%). Although addiction treatment programs are an essential component of strategies to manage the opioid epidemic, if abuse and overdose can be stopped before it starts, more lives will be saved.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) tells us that drug overdoses in the US caused over 64,000 deaths in 2016, and indications are that 2017 will see a 30% additional increase. Further, the CDC’s number one preventive measure to stopping this epidemic is to “limit initiation into opioid misuse and addiction.” Ben Donaldson of DisposeRx, Inc., a North Carolina-based company providing leading drug disposal solutions, stated: “Our goal is to stop the opioid epidemic before it starts by cleaning out medicine cabinets and preventing new addictions by dispensing our proprietary DisposeRx packets with each opioid prescription. Through a patent-pending polymer blend, we enable the permanent sequestration of unused drugs in a biodegradable and non-toxic matrix.”
Senate Bill 6 is at the forefront of combating Kentucky’s opioid epidemic by legislating a site-of-use solution that can be distributed at the time a patient picks up a prescription, allowing local pharmacists the opportunity to educate patients on proper and safe drug disposal methods. Senator Kerr is the primary sponsor of Senate Bill 6, while Senators Ralph Alvarado (R-Winchester) and Rick Girdler (R-Somerset) are cosponsors.
“I am proud that Senate Bill 6 is helping Kentucky lead the way in the fight against drug overdoses and deaths in the Commonwealth by “empowering patients with environmentally-friendly, non-toxic solutions that safely and permanently sequester unwanted or expired medications,” said Senator Kerr.
On January 17th, Walmart announced that their pharmacists are giving away DisposeRx packets with every opioid prescription in all of their 4,700 pharmacies in the US, 105 of which are located in Kentucky. Walmart evaluated several ways of disposing leftover drugs, from in-store kiosks to mail-in programs, and DisposeRx was chosen since it is the most effective, tested and trusted site-of-use disposal solution available today. Walmart is the first national drug chain to offer a free opioid disposal product at all locations, according to USA Today. The product works with all medications, whether they are pills, powder, tablets, capsules or liquids. “DisposeRx is proud to be collaborating with Walmart, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky, to expand education on drug abuse and overdose while providing the gold standard at-home drug disposal technology that is permanent and environmentally safe,” said William Simpson, President of DisposeRx.
“Working with DisposeRx and Walmart, we believe that we can get in front of the addiction problem at the source by enacting laws that encourage removal of drugs from medicine cabinets to prevent abuse and environmental pollution,” said Senator Kerr.
This legislation puts Kentucky at the forefront of various state efforts to prevent drug overdoses, and Senators Kerr and Alvarado are proving their leadership by sponsoring this bill and championing this solution to beating the opioid epidemic.
About Senator Alice Forgy Kerr:
Alice Forgy Kerr (R-Lexington) has served the 12th District of the Kentucky State Senate since 1999, representing a portion of Fayette County. Senator Kerr chairs the Senate Economic Development, Tourism and Labor Committee and is the co-chair of the Workers’ Compensation Task Force. In addition to her 18-year service in the state senate, she was a faculty member and formerly served as the Director of Academic Advising at Midway College. She is the mother of two sons, Carson and Jamison, and grandchildren, Case, Dylan, and Davis. She has dedicated her life to serving her community and state through active volunteerism, education, ministry, and public service.
About DisposeRx Packets:
https://disposerx.com packets contain a blend of patented and proprietary solidifying materials that provide a safe and permanent solution for the disposal of unwanted, unused or expired medications. When water and the DisposeRx powder are added to drugs in the prescription vial and shaken, the drugs are dissolved and then both chemically and physically sequestered in a biodegradable, viscous gel from which they cannot be extracted.
About DisposeRx, Inc.
Headquartered in Sanford, North Carolina, DisposeRx, Inc. is spearheading programs to educate communities with practical, convenient, inexpensive and safe medication disposing solutions, thus preventing drug addictions, overdoses, deaths and environmental pollution. DisposeRx, Inc. believes in safe environments, with a goal to stop the nation’s opioid epidemic that often begins in the home medicine cabinet. Further, drugs treated with DisposeRx, when discarded in the trash, rapidly biodegrade in landfills and do not pollute water supplies. DisposeRx, Inc. enables the distribution of its first-in-class drug disposal product through local and regional outreach programs with pharmacies, hospitals, hospices, community groups, law enforcement and correctional facilities and retailers and wholesalers
About DisposeRx Packets:
https://disposerx.com packets contain a blend of patented and proprietary solidifying materials that provide a safe and permanent solution for the
disposal of unwanted, unused or expired medications. When water and the DisposeRx powder are added to drugs in the prescription vial and shaken, the drugs are dissolved and then both chemically and physically sequestered in a biodegradable, viscous gel from which they cannot be extracted.
About DisposeRx, Inc.
Headquartered in Sanford, North Carolina, DisposeRx, Inc. is spearheading programs to educate communities with practical, convenient, inexpensive and safe medication disposing solutions, thus preventing drug addictions, overdoses, deaths and environmental pollution. DisposeRx, Inc. believes in safe environments, with a goal to stop the nation’s opioid epidemic that often begins in the home medicine cabinet. Further, drugs treated with DisposeRx, when discarded in the trash, rapidly biodegrade in landfills and do not pollute water supplies. DisposeRx, Inc. enables the distribution of its first-in-class drug disposal product through local and regional outreach programs with pharmacies, hospitals, hospices, community groups, law enforcement and correctional facilities and retailers and wholesalers nationwide.
Contact Information:
Senator Alice Forgy Kerr
702 Capitol Ave
Annex Room 203
502-564-8100 Ext. 779
Frankfort KY 40601
Alice.Kerr@lrc.ky.gov
DisposeRx, Inc.
Janice Ockershausen
202-716-1644
https://disposerx.com
