Public Act 0221 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1919 Enrolled LRB096 10985 DRJ 21625 b

Public Act 096-0221

AN ACT concerning safety.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Safe Pharmaceutical Disposal Act.

Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:

"Health care institution" means any public or private institution or agency licensed or certified by State law to provide health care. The term includes hospitals, nursing homes, residential health care facilities, home health care agencies, hospice programs operating in this State, institutions, facilities, or agencies that provide services to persons with mental health illnesses, and institutions, facilities, or agencies that provide services for persons with developmental disabilities.

"Public wastewater collection system" means any wastewater collection system regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Unused medication" means any unopened, expired, or excess medication that has been dispensed for patient or resident care and that is in a solid form. The term includes pills, tablets, capsules, and caplets. For long-term care facilities licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act, "unused medication" does not include any Schedule II controlled substance under federal law in any form, until such time as the federal Drug Enforcement Administration adopts regulations that permit these facilities to dispose of controlled substances in a manner consistent with this Act.

Section 10. Disposal of unused medications prohibited.

(a) Except for medications contained in intravenous fluids, syringes, or transdermal patches, no health care institution, nor any employee, staff person, contractor, or other person acting under the direction or supervision of a health care institution, may discharge, dispose of, flush, pour, or empty any unused medication into a public wastewater collection system or septic system.

(b) A violation of this Section is a petty offense subject to a fine of $500. Fines collected under this Act from facilities licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act shall be deposited into the Long Term Care Monitor/Receiver Fund. Fines collected from all other health care institutions under this Act shall be deposited into the Environmental Protection Trust Fund.

Section 15. Health care institution protocols. Nursing homes, residential health care facilities, home health care agencies, hospice programs operating in this State, institutions, facilities, or agencies that provide services to persons with mental health illnesses, and institutions, facilities, or agencies that provide services for persons with developmental disabilities shall modify their written medication protocols to be consistent with the requirements of this Act.

Section 20. Oversight. Each agency having regulatory oversight responsibility for a type of health care institution as defined in this Act shall be responsible for ensuring those institutions' compliance with this Act.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2010.

Effective Date: 1/1/2010