Public Act 096-0221
 
SB1919 Enrolled LRB096 10985 DRJ 21625 b

    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.