This report originally appeared in the March 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has announced that his office has arranged a groundbreaking settlement with five state health care facilities, to stop the disposal of pharmaceutical waste into New York City watersheds and to use waste management facilities that can safely treat pharmaceuticals.

According to the AG's web site, the five facilities have had a practice of flushing unused pharmaceuticals including painkillers, antibiotics, anti-depressants, hormones and other waste drugs into the watershed - the drinking water supply for almost half the state's residents. Tests of the water source have found trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in the past. The facilities - nursing homes and hospitals - all cooperated with the AG's investigation. AG Cuomo says the five facilities disposed of pharmaceutical wastes down sink drains and toilets, and violated various provisions of the federal waste management law, state regulations and in some instances, the federal Clean Water Act.
"The 9 million people who get their water from the New York City Watershed enjoy some of the cleanest, safest and best water in the world," said Attorney General Cuomo in a press release. "We need to make sure it stays that way. These groundbreaking settlements provide a new model to implement immediate and sensible precautions to keep waste drugs out of the drinking water supply."

More Industry Headlines