Skip to content
Georgia Commons
Menu

Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 31. HEALTH · Chapter 8. CARE AND PROTECTION OF INDIGENT AND ELDERLY PATIENTS · Article 10. DRUG REPOSITORY PROGRAM

31-8-301. Drug repository program established; criteria and requirements for unused over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Session of the General Assembly of Georgia.

  1. (a)

    The Department of Public Health shall establish a drug repository program to accept and dispense over-the-counter and prescription drugs donated for the purpose of being dispensed to eligible patients.#

  2. (b)

    Drugs shall only be dispensed pursuant to the program if:#

    1. (1)

      For prescription drugs, with an expiration date that does not expire before the completion of the medication by the eligible patient based on the prescribing health care professional’s directions for use and, for over-the-counter drugs, with an expiration date that does not expire before use by the eligible patient based on the directions for use on the manufacturer’s label; and#

    2. (2)

      The drugs were donated in unopened tamper-evident packaging as defined by United States Pharmacopeia General Chapter 659, Packaging and Storage Requirements, including but not limited to unopened unit-dose and multiple-dose packaging.#

  3. (c)

    The following drugs shall not be donated to the program:#

    1. (1)

      Controlled substances;#

    2. (2)

      Drugs subject to a federal Food and Drug Administration managed risk evaluation and mitigation strategy pursuant to Section 355-1 of Title 21 of the United States Code if inventory transfer is prohibited by such strategy; or#

    3. (3)

      Drugs that there is reason to believe are adulterated pursuant to Code Section 26-3-7.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Code 1981, § 31-8-301, enacted by Ga. L. 2016, p. 524, § 1/HB 897; Ga. L. 2024, p. 347, § 2-3/HB 1072, effective April 23, 2024.

Amendments

The 2024 amendment, effective April 23, 2024, substituted “with an expiration date that does” for “they do” twice in paragraph (b)(1).

Editor's notes

Ga. L. 2024, p. 347, § 2-1/HB 1072, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “The General Assembly finds: “(1) Access to affordable medications is a public health issue that disproportionately impacts vulnerable patients, and a state’s drug repository program can serve as a solution to thousands of families for life-saving and life-preserving medications; and “(2) Participating recipient organizations can provide a valuable community benefit to families in need by making donated medications available and will be authorized to utilize additional pharmacy technicians to distribute donated medications under the drug repository program.”

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Session of the General Assembly of Georgia.

Text read from t31-(v23)-2025-pdf.pdf, Volume V23, 2025 edition, pages 591 to 592; merge action: bound only; file SHA-256 ba5a57f85d04.