Historic Opioid Legislation Heading for the President’s Desk

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C.,  /PRNewswire/ -- DisposeRx Inc., (http://www.disposerx.com) manufacturer of a leading at-home drug disposal product and driving force behind a nationwide effort to stem our nation's prescription medication abuse crisis today shared that for the first time, Congress has officially recognized the importance of site-of-use drug disposal in reversing the opioid epidemic, and the legislation is heading to the President for signature into law.

Key Points:

• Congress has agreed that cleaning out the country's medicine cabinets is a major step toward stemming the opioid epidemic as over 70% of drug addiction has its roots in a home medicine cabinet (National Institute of Drug Abuse)
• Congress has embraced new drug disposal technologies that empower consumers to destroy and dispose of potentially harmful prescription medications in their own homes
• Congress recognizes that, to combat this epidemic, the federal government can no longer solely rely upon traditional methods of drug disposal like take-back days and drop-off locations and will recognize new site-of-use drug disposal technologies that have an important role to play in promoting drug disposal in communities nationwide
• This legislation further permits a hospice employee to perform on-site disposal of controlled substances dispensed to a hospice patient
• DisposeRx has led Capitol Hill efforts to educate members of Congress on new site-of-use drug disposal technologies and the enormous risks of leaving unused drugs in medicine cabinets

Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC), "I've met and spoken with countless people who became addicted to pain pills they took from the family medicine cabinet," said Rep. Hudson. "This is the front line in our all-hands-on-deck fight to end the opioid crisis, and I'm proud to help lead these bipartisan efforts."

William Simpson, President of DisposeRx stated, "We'd like to recognize and thank Congressmen Richard Hudson, Erik Paulson (R-MN), Richard Burr (R-NC) and Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for being champions of both site-of-use drug disposal and education on proper medication management, the necessary combination of tools to significantly reduce the number of new addictions and overdose deaths in our nation."

Dr. John W. Holaday, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of DisposeRx commented, "As the torchbearer of a comprehensive effort to change the culture and habits of drug disposal in this nation, DisposeRx is working closely with the federal government, associations, and health care professionals to increase awareness of this issue and stop the opioid epidemic. We thank the 115^th Congress for supporting the immediate, in-home destruction of all leftover medications while endorsing the need for educational programs and grants to spread this lifesaving information."

DisposeRx premiered a podcast series, Opioids: Hidden Dangers, New Hope, on September 25th. New episodes will be available each Monday at Opioids-HiddenDangers-NewHope.com, and iTunes (itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/opioids-hidden-dangers-new-hope). Congressman Hudson will be featured as part of this series along with NY Times bestselling author Barry Meier, who has documented the opioid crisis for the past 15 years https://opioids-hiddendangers-newhope.com/barry-meier/.

About DisposeRx Packets
DisposeRx packets contain a blend of patented and proprietary cross-linking polymers that provide an at-home 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 both chemically and physically sequestered in a viscous inert gel that can then be safely thrown away in the household trash.

About DisposeRx, Inc. 
Headquartered in Southern Pines, North Carolina, DisposeRx spearheads programs to educate communities with practical, convenient, inexpensive medication disposal solutions, thus preventing drug addictions, overdoses, deaths and environmental pollution. DisposeRx, Inc. enables the distribution of its best-in-class drug disposal product through local and regional outreach programs with pharmacies, hospitals, hospices, community groups, law enforcement, retailers and wholesalers nationwide.  

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SOURCE DisposeRx, Inc.