Surplus meds

[meherenow]

Hi all,

random question but I didn't know where else to post it. I have 6 sealed bottles of Atripla in my cupboard that I no longer need (I have changed combo). The pharmacy have said that I can return them but they will have to destroy them. That seems like an incredible waste to me. Anyone else had this issue before?
Any suggestions about what I could do with them?

 

[jkinatl2]

If you can ballparl your location I can look for an ASO that will take them - unless a member here needs them first

[Ann]

Hiya! We live in the same general corner of the world, so I rang a mate of mine who works in an ASO to ask him about this - and there are no longer any organisations that will take meds, unsealed or not. Not even for redistribution in Africa. He says the current thinking is that since the advent of generic hiv meds, there is no longer the need. (As if! Just ask our brothers and sisters in the States.)

He said it's basically down to nobody wanting to be responsible for some nutter opening the bottles, tampering with the meds in some way, and then re-sealing them. What a sad state of affairs, eh? A terrible waste.

[mitch777]

Hiya! We live in the same general corner of the world, so I rang a mate of mine who works in an ASO to ask him about this - and there are no longer any organisations that will take meds, unsealed or not. Not even for redistribution in Africa. He says the current thinking is that since the advent of generic hiv meds, there is no longer the need. (As if! Just ask our brothers and sisters in the States.)

He said it's basically down to nobody wanting to be responsible for some nutter opening the bottles, tampering with the meds in some way, and then re-sealing them. What a sad state of affairs, eh? A terrible waste.

After reading this I called my local ASO. They will take the meds but won't distribute them locally. Sad.
What they do is send them to this organization in NY.
http://aidforaids.org/   (previously posted here on another thread)
At least they are getting put to good use.

[meherenow]

Sorry, I should have stated that I am in England

[oksikoko]

I hope you don't consider this a hijack, but I've had a related question for a while. What exactly is the legality of, um, facilitating transfer HIV medications from willing people who don't need them to willing people who do? Imagine, if you will, someone doing this on a regular basis, what sort of trouble could he find himself in and how secretive does he need to be, really? This is, of course, something hypothetical my dog Fido was asking about, as he's a very curious doggie.

[jkinatl2]

I hope you don't consider this a hijack, but I've had a related question for a while. What exactly is the legality of, um, facilitating transfer HIV medications from willing people who don't need them to willing people who do? Imagine, if you will, someone doing this on a regular basis, what sort of trouble could he find himself in and how secretive does he need to be, really? This is, of course, something hypothetical my dog Fido was asking about, as he's a very curious doggie.

Depending on your location, it is technically a felony. Someone arrested for it and convicted of it would face heavy fines, imprisonment, and if they were in the system, a complete loss of benefits, housing opportunities, student loans, food stamos, and the like.

Heaven forbid some monster decides to swap out other things for a drug not in it's original, sealed container. And that's why the laws exist.

I absolutely think that vetted organizations (and vetted people) are to be lauded for giving people access to their meds - often where there is no alternative but a slow death. But I also think that the laws exist for a reason, and even when/if/as we circumvent that law and reason (to good end, I might add) we ought to respect that fact, and be willing to accept the consequences.

I have certainly placed my entire life in jeodardy a number of times by sending out med old meds. But when I think about it, so did the people trusting me not to be a horrible beast.

[oksikoko]

I'll lecture the pooch in the morning. Him and his crazy ideas... He suspected as much and thanks you for the info.

[buginme2]

Awhile ago when I switched from Atripla to Complera I had a few bottles left over.  I tried to give them away also but no one would take them.  I even posted on here that I had extra.  I ended up taking them to my pharmacy.