CVMA building drug-disposal database

DENVER, COLO. — The Colorado Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) is creating a database of information about veterinary pharmaceutical disposal with the help of the state public health department.

The purpose is to provide guidance to DVMs on complying with environmental regulations.

All states should be implementing the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), says CVMA Executive Director Ralph Johnson. So the CVMA is using pharmaceutical elements listed in RCRA and the recommendations for disposal and comparing them to drugs used by Colorado veterinarians.

The database, which will take about a year to complete, will give veterinarians information on proper disposal of various drugs.

CVMA started to develop the database after Johnson learned the veterinary community was in the public health department's "regulatory sights" because of concern about veterinary pharmaceutical hazardous waste.

"There's a real information void, and from the regulatory standpoint they're saying it is the waste generators' responsibility to navigate the system and figure it out," Johnson says.

"We've got to roll up our sleeves and provide some resources. We're on it."