Perhaps this could be simply answered in GQ, but I thought I’d stick it here so anyone who wanted to offer thoughts on the ethics involved.
My question is whether it is legal to give away syringes.
I take a daily injectible medication, and have taken it for about the last two years. I get a new order automatically shipped every three months, 90 pre-filled syringes. Over the past couple of years, there have been times when I haven’t taken the shots (a couple of weeks when I had noggin surgery, during flu or when I’m taking steroid courses) so I have a few boxes that I haven’t used just filling up the fridge. I could empty them and put them in my regular little red boxes and dispose of them like the dirty needles, but I hate for them to go to waste.
So, can I give them away? Would I put myself at risk for legal action doing so? Could I mebbe donate them to some organization that does needle exchange? And, if none of that works, is there some other place that could use them (animal shelters or something, although my first choice would be helping humans)?
I am also interested in the ethical considerations in programs like needle exchange. I would rather see a drug addict at least avoid HIV or other serious nasties. I know people who have gotten clean and sober and now live pretty amazing lives. I also know of some who haven’t made it for one reason or another. I just hate these clean needles sitting here going to waste if they could help somebody.
I don’t have an answer for you specifically, but the waste of perfectly good unused medicine due to some sort of irrational fear people have is insane.
When I was changed over from one type of insulin to another, I had, because I had just got a 3-month supply, about $400 of new insulin that didn’t expire for 2 years. So I tried to return it to the pharmacy - no dice. I tried to donate it to the pharmacy or a hospital - not only was there no dice, one pharmacist wanted to know “what I was trying to prove.” I asked about donating to a medicine for the poor charity, and was told that it was illegal to give prescription medicine to anyone else, no matter what. Nonetheless, I contacted 5 members of the SDMB who I knew were diabetic and I knew could use $400 of free insulin. All 5 turned me down (1 said she wasn’t using that type, 1 never replied to my e-mail, and 3 said in effect they were sure I was probably not the Lucretia Borgia of the SDMB, but nonetheless they didn’t want to accept insulin from anyone except a pharmacist).
Soooooo…$400 of new, safety-sealed insulin went in the trash. Who exactly benefited from that?
Most all syringe giveaway programs I’ve seen involve pharmacies or government agencies giving them away as new items, not donations from private individuals. I’ll bet that somehow a whole array of foot-dragging dumbasses would step up to the plate to prevent you from donating new, safety-sealed syringes for anything except treating rabid skunks.
One of my uncles recently passed away, and my aunt gave me about a 2-year supply of one of his medications, which I also take (same dosage). This is saving me a whole lot of money, since I don’t have health insurance. I know there are people who believe this transfer of medication is wrong, but I can’t for the life of me understand why.
Well there are valid reasons why medicine transfers should be limited - medicines may have been tampered with, they may have been stored improperly, they may not be exactly equivalent or may not be the same dose, etc. Yet at the same time there should be some way to not so quickly discard so much value.
Thanks for the responses. Una Perrson, I get your outrage. The first thing I tried to do was to find out how to give away the actual medicine. It’s a treatment for multiple sclerosis that retails for $1600/month. I ran into the same problem, no one will take it because of the reasons you mention (like concern that it wasn’t refrigerated). I might have tried harder, but I’ve only an extra couple boxes, and it’s a med that you need to take all the time, not a quick fix. If someone out there needs it and has no insurance to pay, they’re SOL and one box isn’t gonna help them any.
And I also tried to work out temporarily suspending a shipment to catch up, but my doc warned me not to do that. I guess it might screw up the insurance company’s willingness to pay (and I am having enough insurance company problems as it is).
Anyway, thanks again for the responses. Hopefully someone will come along and tell me who I can get this stuff to, but if not…well, I can do other stuff in the world. Like write letters to congressfolk.
It depends on the jurisdiction. I know a prescription is not required in my state, but I believe it is one of the states that only allows syringes to be sold by pharmacies. I don’t know if there are restrictions on giving them away.
I would definitely suggest contacting an organization that does needle exchanges and see if they can accept the syringes. They probably already know whether it’s legal in your jurisdiction. I suspect they would not accept the syringes for liability reasons. They can’t be sure how you had them stored, whether they’re actually sterile, etc.
It’s a liability and safety issue. Nobody can be sure you properly stored the insulin. People are obviously much more nervous about accepting medication than something like canned soup since it is so much more likely for medication to go bad, be incorrectly labelled, or incorrectly stored. It makes sense to me.
I agree; it does make sense to me too. That’s why I didn’t put a lot of effort in to giving the meds away. I wouldn’t feel safe taking perscription meds from a stranger, even though they would probably be very well meaning.
I will do some research into needle exchange programs. Even if there’s not one in the area that will accept them, I can mail them to another program. And y’all are right, in that such a program could better advise me on what’s safe and legal.
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Insulin can be kept out of refrigeration for up to 30 days with no ill effects, it only needs to be refrigerated to keep it all the way through the date of expiration.
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I know you would prefer that the syringes be used to help people but an animal shelter may be the only place that can or will accept them. If your local animal shelter will accept them, they will be put to good use there.
I suppose you could ask, but I doubt they will accept pre-filled syringes. IANA animal shelter volunteer, but it seems unlikely to me that they would actually use syringes that are filled with another drug, since that would mean exposing the animals to traces of whatever drug was in it last, which may have unpredictable/unknown effects. The needles are likewise contaminated, so you can’t just squirt the drug out and reuse the syringe and needle, you would have to rinse them and resterilize them. Current, cost-effective practice is to dispose of plastic syringes (and certainly needles) after each use. Syringes are dirt cheap; labor and materials to clean, package, and autoclave them aren’t, and many syringes can not be autoclaved.
I asked about donating to a medicine for the poor charity, and was told that it was illegal to give prescription medicine to anyone else, no matter what. Nonetheless, I contacted 5 members of the SDMB who I knew were diabetic and I knew could use $400 of free insulin. All 5 turned me down (1 said she wasn’t using that type, 1 never replied to my e-mail, and 3 said in effect they were sure I was probably not the Lucretia Borgia of the SDMB, but nonetheless they didn’t want to accept insulin from anyone except a pharmacist).