Taking matters into their own hands

To help people cope with rising prescription drug prices, some individuals, groups, doctors and states are distributing unused prescription drugs to patients who can’t afford them.

In Baltimore, advocates Pearl Lewis and Alexis Southworth have organized an increasingly well-known donation system in which consumers drop off unused high-blood pressure medications, pain drugs and even unused cancer and organ transplant medications.

They store the drugs -- up to $15,000 worth on one recent afternoon -- in Southworth’s refrigerator. Within 30 days after someone donates medication, they drop it off to a doctor who agrees to pass it along, or sometimes they give the medication directly to patients who contact them for help, says Southworth.

Pedro Rodriguez, director of the Action Alliance of Senior Citizens in Philadelphia, is using a model more akin to music file-sharing: He allows patients to post notes at a center on who has extra medication or who needs some and then helps them link up on their own.

Because so many people try new medications that don’t work or know of family members who have passed away or no longer need specific medications, “a lot of people want to find something useful to do with it other than flush it down the toilet,” Rodriguez said.

Some doctors are even collecting unused drugs from some patients and redirecting them to those who can’t afford them.

(Although doctors often have free samples for patients, they’re usually only for newer drugs that pharmaceutical companies are promoting. Older drugs that many patients rely on are harder to come by.)

It’s unclear how legal these sharing arrangements are, especially those that don’t involve a doctor. And many doctors remain wary about passing along unused drugs to another patient, especially if they’re not in their original packaging.

Still, those organizing such sharing systems say they are only doing what several states have begun to do. Some states, including Oklahoma, Louisiana and Ohio, have passed legislation in recent years that allows unused drugs from nursing homes and pharmacies to be distributed to poor patients through community clinics. Texas and California are currently considering similar measures.

“If they come up with a better way for us to help these people get the drugs they need, let me know,” said Southworth, of Baltimore. “Until then, this is working out OK.”