Free Health Clinic for the Uninsured at the Tacoma Dome on April 30. The National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC), in partnership with the Washington Free Clinic Association, (WFCA) will be holding a one-day free clinic on Saturday, April 30, 2011 in the Tacoma Dome. The upcoming C.A.R.E. (Communities Are Responding Everyday) Clinic will offer free primary and preventative health care services to an estimated 1,200 uninsured adult residents of the Seattle-Tacoma area. Appointments are required and can be made by calling 1-877-233-5159 toll free. Volunteer clinicians are still needed and can sign up on the NAFC website.
Microsoft changes disability policy following KING 5 report. Microsoft announced today that it is changing its short-term disability policy, following a KING 5 News report about the employee who was denied paid leave to undergo surgery for a brain tumor. According to the new report, the company now says it will pay its employees short-term disability regardless of their performance reviews, effective immediately.
The DEA’s Second National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will include sites across Washington State. For one day only, April 30, unused medicines can be disposed of between the hours 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. of at locations around the state. But there is more to the issue than a one-time event or quick fixes. Prime-time TV ads for the event, sponsored by SMARxTDisposal, a project of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the American Pharmacists Association, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America also advise how to dispose of drugs year-round. The solution they offer is to mix the meds with household waste and water in plastic zipper bags, them tossing in the trash. Getting medicines out of circulation before they can be used or abused for recreational and/or criminal purposes , and contaminate our groundwaters is a serious concern. But for three years running, pharma lobbying has succeeded in defeating bills in Washington State that would have created a permanent medicine take-back program. Modeled after programs in Europe and Canada ( including in neighboring British Columbia) supported by small fees from the pharmaceutical industry, the WA bills had broad support from law enforcement agencies, local governments, health care professionals, environmental groups and substance abuse prevention programs. The Take Back Your Meds coalition lists a few temporary current Rx drop-off locations, and has vowed to keep up the fight. 
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