SIRUM (Supporting Initiatives to Redistribute Unused Medicine) is a non-profit social enterprise started by three Stanford University students to decrease the amount of medicine going to waste in the U.S. by redistributing unused, unexpired drugs to safety-net clinics and other organizations. They are the largest redistributor of surplus medicine in the United States.
Background
An estimated $5 billion worth of usable medicine goes to waste each year in the United States—yet 1 in 4 adults report difficulty affording prescription drugs.[1] Medication non-adherence in America results in an estimated 131,000 annual deaths,[2] costing up to $528 billion annually.[3] Wasting $11 billion of usable medicine each year has consequences for Americans: it contributes to polluted air and water supplies, and leads to the duplicative purchasing and manufacturing of drugs to meet patient needs—which could otherwise be met by drawing on medication surplus.
Much of the surplus unused medicine wasted each year resides with healthcare organizations, long-term care facilities, pharmaceutical manufacturers and wholesalers. Because these surplus medications remain in institutional settings throughout their life cycles, their integrity is carefully maintained by trained healthcare professionals.