A controversial California bill requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to establish pharmaceutical take-back programs statewide has been shelved after the chair of the state Senate environmental panel declined to consider the bill and directed stakeholders to negotiate this summer in an attempt to draft a consensus bill, sources say. Industry groups argued the bill adds unnecessary costs to consumers that could lead to spikes in prescription drug prices. The legislation is modeled after a pharmaceutical take-back program adopted last year by California's Alameda County that the industry is challenging in a pending federal lawsuit. Supporters of the bill say a single, statewide pharmaceutical take-back program would be more feasible than a patchwork of varying local ordinances throughout the state. A coalition of environmentalists, local governments and wastewater treatment plants are supportive of the measure. The bill, SB 727 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D), was shelved in the state's Senate Environmental Quality Committee May 1.
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