The Missouri Pharmaceuticals Stewardship Summit

October 14 & 15, 2020

Meeting Materials

Every fourteen minutes, an American dies from an unintentional drug overdose. Among children, emergency room visits for accidental drug poisonings are twice as common as poisonings from other household products. Unfortunately, flushing unwanted meds isn’t the answer. Doing so sends them into rivers, streams, and other waterways. Chemicals from medicines can then show up in our drinking water and have harmful effects on aquatic life.

In Missouri, unwanted medication is too often left in cabinets for years, flushed, or thrown directly in the trash and enters landfill leachate that cannot be filtered from wastewater treatment plants. Pharmaceutical stewardship involves the safe storage and disposal of these medications.

All stakeholders interested in Missouri pharmaceutical stewardship were invited to join the Missouri Product Stewardship Council (MO PSC), in partnership with the Product Stewardship Institute, for a virtual summit on Pharmaceuticals Stewardship October 14-15, 2020.

On Day 1, participants discussed the importance of safe pharmaceuticals management and takeback program best practices using models from Missouri and other states, as well as existing collection infrastructure.
On Day 2, Product Stewardship Institute staff facilitated discussion to lay the groundwork for pharmaceutical stewardship in Missouri, including developing a uniform message regarding safe pharmaceuticals disposal.

For two days, we will had an engaged conversation with representatives from the public health community, social services, prevention experts, pharmacists, wastewater treatment facilities, environmental organizations, tribal communities, opioid crisis experts and activists, health professionals, and law enforcement agencies.

Together, participants will develop specific next steps for implementing a pharmaceutical stewardship program in Missouri.