By Jake Goldstein-Street | Reporter
Washington’s program to collect unused and expiring medication faces a few hurdles, including limited access in rural counties, flagging state oversight and new funding challenges with one of the two companies collecting the drugs withdrawing from Washington.
Despite these issues, it’s helped collect over a million pounds of drugs since launching in 2020 as a way to avoid medication misuse, and stop the medicine from polluting waterways.
Also in today’s edition…
• A settlement is reached in litigation over the Paramount, Warner Bros. merger.
• Oregon struggles to fund road maintenance.
• And, news organizations sue the Trump administration over access.
News tips, feedback, questions? Email us: [email protected]
By Jake Goldstein-Street
Under this program, drug manufacturers pay companies to collect unused medication, including prescription and over-the-counter drugs, for incineration free of charge to patients. Those two companies have been MED-Project and Inmar, but the latter pulled out at the end of June.
The state Department of Health collects fees from MED-Project, and previously Inmar, to oversee the program. Inmar’s absence means fewer sites for members of the public to bring in medication and less funding for state oversight.
The company decided to bow out of Washington “after evaluating the long-term sustainability of the program and determining that the current model was not viable going forward,” said Brian Nightengale, the president of the company’s healthcare division.
The program is set to end in 2029, unless the Legislature continues it.
Twelve state attorneys general, led by California, filed a lawsuit in July seeking to block Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
By Mia Maldonado
Washington and 11 other Democratic-led states have reached a legal settlement that will allow the blockbuster merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery to move forward, with conditions.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown sees the protections included in the settlement as “significant and robust.” He believes they’ll ensure high-quality films will continue to be released widely in theaters.
“While federal regulators ignored the clear impacts to consumers and labor posed by this mega-merger, states came together and secured significant concessions from this media behemoth,” Brown, a Democrat, said in a statement. “No company has free license to burden the public with anticompetitive practices and we will continue to hold them accountable.”
By Mia Maldonado
Oregon’s transportation department faces a $200 million shortfall in the next two-year budget cycle, one of the largest gaps in the country. A recent study found the state would need to more than double its planned roadway maintenance spending to close it.
By Jennifer Shutt
CNN, MS Now and Politico wrote in a joint statement that their suit over being barred from the White House is intended “to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.” A preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday in the case.
ICYMI
Tribes hit hard by wildfires face health effects, cultural losses | by Nada Hassanein
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