Drugmakers will soon have to provide patients with postage-paid envelopes to send back unused opioids for safe disposal under a new requirement announced by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as part of its Opioids Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigations Strategy (REMS) program. This plan is scheduled to take effect next year.
The action is designed to stem the risk that that unused pills will cause accidental overexposure or addiction. The agency announced on 3 April that “patients commonly report having unused opioid analgesics following surgical procedures and many Americans gain access to opioids through friends or relatives who have unused opioids. Data show educating patients about disposal options may increase the disposal rate of unused opioids and that providing a disposal option along with education could further increase that rate.”…
