BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 419
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Date of Hearing: June 28, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
SB 419 (Simitian) - As Introduced: February 16, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 32-8
SUBJECT : Medical waste: home-generated sharps.
SUMMARY : This bill requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to
provide their existing safe management plans to the Department
of Resource Recovery and Recycling (DRRR) electronically and the
manufacture shall make them readily accessible on their
websites.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines "home-generated sharps waste" to mean hypodermic
needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets, and other
devices that are used to penetrate the skin for the delivery
of medications derived from a household, including a
multifamily residence or household.
2)Prohibits the disposal of home-generated sharps waste in solid
waste or recycling streams.
3)Requires pharmaceutical manufacturers that sell or distribute
a medication in California that is self-injected at home
through the use of a hypodermic needle, pen needle,
intravenous needle, or any other similar device to submit to
DRRR a plan that describes what actions, if any, the
manufacturer supports for the safe management of sharps waste.
4)Requires that the safe management plan be submitted annually
after the initial date of July 1, 2010, and be posted on
DRRR's website as well as the manufacturer's website.
FISCAL EFFECT : Not Known
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill : According to the author, "although it is
illegal to throw sharps into the trash, many people are unaware
and continue to illegally dispose of their sharps. In
SB 419
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California, approximately 1 in 12 households have someone who
must self-inject to treat diabetes, cancer, hepatitis B & C,
arthritis, multiple sclerosis, hemophilia, infertility, serious
allergies or other medical conditions generating approximately
389 million sharps annually. Improper disposal poses a
significant risk of injury and/or infection to children, hotel
workers, janitors and solid waste employees as well as making
almost one million Californians in violation of current law."
Medical Sharps : An estimated one million Californians inject
medications outside traditional health care facilities, which
generate approximately 389 million sharps each year. The
numbers of patients using injectable medications will continue
to grow because it is an effective delivery method. The most
common home use of sharps is to manage diabetes. Other reasons
to home-inject include multiple sclerosis, infertility,
migraines, allergies, hemophilia and medications for pets.
California was one of the first states to address the problems
of sharps with the passage of SB 1305 (Figueroa, Chapter 64,
Statutes of 2006) to prohibit the disposal of medical sharps in
California's landfills. Although illegal, most of these used
needles still end up in household trash and pose a significant
risk of injury and/or infection to children, custodial workers
and solid waste employees.
This bill expands on SB 486 (Simitian, Chapter 591, Statutes of
2009). SB 486 requires pharmaceutical manufacturers who sell
medications that are routinely injected at home to submit annual
plans to DRRR describing how they support and provide safe
sharps collection and disposal programs.
This bill addresses implementation challenges learned after the
submission of the first round of plans required pursuant to SB
486. Many plans were submitted in hard-copy form that required
time for DRRR staff to scan and post them. Also, some
stakeholders found it challenging to find the manufacturer's
report on their websites.
Ensuring that these reports are readily available to sharps
users was a key goal of the initial legislation. Patients who
self-inject can use the information to identify and evaluate
what pharmaceutical companies are doing to assist them in
managing their sharps waste.
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Status of SB 486 reports: In 2010 DRRR has received sharps
collection and disposal plans from approximately 30
pharmaceutical companies. DRRR is following up with additional
pharmaceutical manufacturers that it believes are subject to the
reporting requirement but have yet to submit a plan.
A review of the plans by a group of public health, local
governments and environmental organizations released in 2011
found that manufactures of injectable drugs that treat chronic
illnesses are failing to provide patients safe, convenient, cost
effective methods of needle disposal. According to the Home
Sharps Evaluation Team, "75% percent of California's injectable
drug makers failed because they either did not in any way meet
customer expectations or did not submit reports at all and are
currently not in compliance with the law. The failing
companies' literature is almost completely silent on disposal
methods. Some actually give patients the impression that they
can put used sharps in non-approved containers and dispose of
them in the regular trash. This is utterly false and against
the law."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support:
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
California Sharps Coalition
Clean Water Action
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Waste Management, Inc.
Opposition :
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg/ E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965