By Senator Leland Yee
In the United States, forty-seven states allow pharmacists to sell syringes without a prescription. Most states amended their laws in light of overwhelming evidence that criminalizing access to sterile syringes led drug users to share used ones, and that sharing syringes spread HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases that can live in a used syringe.
In California, the Assembly Appropriations Committee approved legislation to allow pharmacies to sell sterile syringes to an adult without a prescription. Senate Bill 41, which I authored and introduced earlier this year is supported by doctors, pharmacists, and AIDS prevention advocates, and will receive a vote of the full Assembly in August.
Under an existing pilot program, pharmacies in Los Angeles County, San Francisco, and some other parts of the state have been allowed to sell syringes without a prescription. This legislation would extend this program to allow pharmacists throughout the state to participate.
AIDS and hepatitis do not recognize county borders and thus our current policy is not nearly as effective as it should be. This legislation will reduce health care costs to taxpayers and save lives.
Because most states do not require a prescription for syringes, diabetics who visit our state may not even have a prescription and come here assuming they can purchase needles at a pharmacy. This bill will ensure those diabetics or others who need syringes for health purposes will not be stranded here in California without the ability to administer life-saving insulin and drugs.
The approach in this bill has been evaluated extensively throughout the world and has been found to significantly reduce rates of HIV and hepatitis without contributing to any increase in drug use, drug injection, crime or unsafe discard of syringes. In fact, there is not one credible study that refutes these findings.
Alex Kral, an epidemiologist who has supervised several studies of HIV prevention, said, “In light of over 200 studies worldwide that establish improved syringe access means less disease with no downside, to continue a policy of making syringe sales illegal would amount to health policy malpractice.”
The 200 studies Kral referred to were reviewed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2008. WHO concluded that the overwhelming scientific consensus showed improved syringe access reduced rates of HIV and hepatitis without contributing to drug use, crime or unsafe discard of syringes.
Among the numerous studies cited was one published in the American Journal of Public Health from 2001 that compared US cities that allowed pharmacists to sell syringes to adults without a prescription and those that did not. The study found that the rate of HIV among drug injectors was twice as high in cities that forbid sale without a prescription than those cities that allowed pharmacists greater flexibility to provide syringes.
Sharing of used syringes is the most common cause of new hepatitis C infections in California and the second most common cause of HIV infections. The state Department of Public Health estimates that approximately 3,000 California residents contract hepatitis C through syringe sharing every year and another 750 cases of HIV are caused by syringe sharing.
These diseases are costly and potentially deadly. Hospitalizations for hepatitis B and hepatitis C cost the state $2 billion in 2007, according to a report by the California Research Bureau. The lifetime cost of treating hepatitis C is approximately $100,000, unless a liver transplant is required, and then the cost exceeds $300,000 per surgery. The lifetime cost of treating HIV/AIDS is now estimated to exceed $600,000 per patient.
In addition to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Drug Policy Alliance, the effort is supported by the AIDS Project Los Angeles, American Civil Liberties Union, California Hepatitis Alliance, California Nurses Association, California Psychiatric Association, California Retailers Association, County Alcohol & Drug Program Administrators, California Medical Association, California Pharmacists Association, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, City and County of San Francisco, Health Officers Association of California, and Equality California, among others.
In the United States, forty-seven states allow pharmacists to sell syringes without a prescription. Most states amended their laws in light of overwhelming evidence that criminalizing access to sterile syringes led drug users to share used ones, and that sharing syringes spread HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases that can live in a used syringe.
In California, the Assembly Appropriations Committee approved legislation to allow pharmacies to sell sterile syringes to an adult without a prescription. Senate Bill 41, which I authored and introduced earlier this year is supported by doctors, pharmacists, and AIDS prevention advocates, and will receive a vote of the full Assembly in August.
Under an existing pilot program, pharmacies in Los Angeles County, San Francisco, and some other parts of the state have been allowed to sell syringes without a prescription. This legislation would extend this program to allow pharmacists throughout the state to participate.
AIDS and hepatitis do not recognize county borders and thus our current policy is not nearly as effective as it should be. This legislation will reduce health care costs to taxpayers and save lives.
Because most states do not require a prescription for syringes, diabetics who visit our state may not even have a prescription and come here assuming they can purchase needles at a pharmacy. This bill will ensure those diabetics or others who need syringes for health purposes will not be stranded here in California without the ability to administer life-saving insulin and drugs.
The approach in this bill has been evaluated extensively throughout the world and has been found to significantly reduce rates of HIV and hepatitis without contributing to any increase in drug use, drug injection, crime or unsafe discard of syringes. In fact, there is not one credible study that refutes these findings.
Alex Kral, an epidemiologist who has supervised several studies of HIV prevention, said, “In light of over 200 studies worldwide that establish improved syringe access means less disease with no downside, to continue a policy of making syringe sales illegal would amount to health policy malpractice.”
The 200 studies Kral referred to were reviewed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2008. WHO concluded that the overwhelming scientific consensus showed improved syringe access reduced rates of HIV and hepatitis without contributing to drug use, crime or unsafe discard of syringes.
Among the numerous studies cited was one published in the American Journal of Public Health from 2001 that compared US cities that allowed pharmacists to sell syringes to adults without a prescription and those that did not. The study found that the rate of HIV among drug injectors was twice as high in cities that forbid sale without a prescription than those cities that allowed pharmacists greater flexibility to provide syringes.
Sharing of used syringes is the most common cause of new hepatitis C infections in California and the second most common cause of HIV infections. The state Department of Public Health estimates that approximately 3,000 California residents contract hepatitis C through syringe sharing every year and another 750 cases of HIV are caused by syringe sharing.
These diseases are costly and potentially deadly. Hospitalizations for hepatitis B and hepatitis C cost the state $2 billion in 2007, according to a report by the California Research Bureau. The lifetime cost of treating hepatitis C is approximately $100,000, unless a liver transplant is required, and then the cost exceeds $300,000 per surgery. The lifetime cost of treating HIV/AIDS is now estimated to exceed $600,000 per patient.
In addition to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Drug Policy Alliance, the effort is supported by the AIDS Project Los Angeles, American Civil Liberties Union, California Hepatitis Alliance, California Nurses Association, California Psychiatric Association, California Retailers Association, County Alcohol & Drug Program Administrators, California Medical Association, California Pharmacists Association, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, City and County of San Francisco, Health Officers Association of California, and Equality California, among others.
No comments:
Post a Comment