Kentucky State Senate Passes Legislation to Prevent Opioid Overdoses and Deaths

State Senator Alice Forgy Kerr guides Senate Bill 6 to passage by overwhelming majority

Frankfort, KY – March 15, 2018 — Kentucky State Senator Alice Forgy Kerr’s sponsored senate bill (SB-06), which requires opioids and other abused drugs to be dispensed along with a method to permanently sequester and dispose of any leftover pills, passed today by an overwhelming vote of 34-2. Kentucky is the first state to propose legislation designed to curb opioid addiction and related deaths by requiring a safe and environmentally conscious disposal solution. This legislation is a keystone to stop the epidemic of drug overdoses and deaths that begin with leftover and unused drugs in the medicine cabinet. The Senate bill now advances to the Kentucky House of Re resentatives where passage of  similar legislation will enable Governor Bevin to sign it into law. If passed and signed, it will become effective in July 2018. Senators Ralph Alvarado (R-Winchester) and Rick Girdler (R-Somerset) co-sponsored this groundbreaking legislation with Senator Kerr (R-Fayette).

DisposeRx, Inc., a North Carolina-based company providing leading drug disposal solutions, offers an easy, convenient, and inexpensive way to sequester and dispose of unused pills. The use of DisposeRx packets helps prevent drug abuse and protects the environment. To use DisposeRx, simply add water to the pill bottle, pour in the powder, shake and dispose in the trash.

The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) number one preventive measure to stop this epidemic is to “limit initiation into opioid misuse and addiction.” 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. The CDC states that drug overdoses in the US caused over 64,000 deaths in 2016, and indications are that 2017 will see a 30% additional increase. Kentucky ranks 5th in the US in terms of per-capita deaths due to drug overdoses, with over 1,500 deaths in 2016 alone.

Ben Donaldson, V P of Government Relations for DisposeRx, Inc., commented: “Through her strong leadership in sponsoring SB 6, Senator Kerr has brought Kentucky into the forefront of states’ efforts across the country to provide legislation to prevent drug overdoses and deaths.” He continued, “This legislation requires a site-of-use solution that is distributed when an individual picks up a prescription, allowing local pharmacists the opportunity to educate people on proper and safe drug disposal methods. 

“Among the solutions for drug disposal, DisposeRx is the gold standard, having gone through the most extensive testing of any at-home drug disposal product” stated William Simpson, President of DisposeRx. Simpson continued, “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 created to save lives.”

Walmart announced on January 17th that their pharmacists are giving away DisposeRx packets with every opioid prescription in each of their 4,700 pharmacies in the US, 105 of which are located in Kentucky. Walmart evaluated several ways of disposing of leftover drugs, from in-store kiosks to mail-in programs, and DisposeRx was chosen as the most convenient, 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. The product works with all medications, whether they are pills, powder, tablets, capsules or liquids. “DisposeRx is proud to collaborate with Walmart and the Commonwealth of Kentucky to expand education on drug abuse and overdose while providing the state-of-the art, at-home drug disposal technology and solution that is permanent and environmentally safe,” said William Simpson. 

“Working with DisposeRx and Walmart, we believe that Kentucky 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. 

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:
DisposeRx 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 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, 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
DisposeRx.com

New Address

DisposeRx has moved! Our corporate office
address is now located at:

 

DisposeRx, Inc.
146 NW Broad Street
Southern Pines, NC 28387

 

Please update your address book. Thank you and remember to check your medicine cabinet and dispose of any unneeded or expired medications.

Close
Pouring packet
Scroll to Top