Kansas City, Mo. ? A new effort in Kansas to redirect some types of unused medications to safety net clinics is off to a slow start, but supporters are confident it will eventually benefit patients and the state.

Under a program approved by the Legislature in 2008, adult care homes, mail service pharmacies and medical care facilities can donate unused prescription drugs to clinics and health centers that serve the uninsured and poor.

When the law took effect in January, the state joined at least 37 states with similar laws or programs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The organization and success of those programs vary widely. A program started in Missouri in 2004 never got off the ground.

The Kansas program got its first donation in April, when Prescription Solutions of Overland Park, a mail-order pharmacy, gave about $250,000 of unused medicines that will eventually go to 36 clinics in 30 cities.

So far, the focus has been on notifying qualified donors and clinics and organizing the logistics, said Robert Stiles, director of primary care for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The state also is trying to arrange clearinghouses where drugs could be stored.

“We are hearing a lot of interest,” Stiles said. “It’s still early. But it’s such a great idea, to use medicines that are usually thrown away. I think it will be popular.”

The law includes stringent regulations to ensure the safety and effectiveness of drugs involved. Controlled substances and drugs that can be given only to a patient registered with a drug manufacturer — generally those known to have potentially serious side effects — cannot be used.

The medicines must be in tamperproof, sealed packages and not be expired. Any information identifying the patient must be removed. A pharmacist will check the packages before they are distributed and when they arrive at the clinics or centers.

Individuals are not allowed to donate unused drugs.

Sen. Vicki Schmidt, a Republican from Topeka who is a pharmacist, said she had concerns when the idea was first debated, but she is confident the current program is safe.

“I’m absolutely elated with it,” Schmidt said. “We have hundreds of thousands of dollars in drugs not being used at the same time that visits to safety net clinics are increasing rapidly. I truly believe this will help many, many Kansans.”

Kansas’ law is unique in allowing a mail order pharmacy to donate, which could greatly benefit the program, Schmidt and others said.

Based on the amount of medicine it now destroys, Prescription Solutions expects to donate up to a quarter-million dollars of unused drugs annually, Frank Whitchurch, pharmacist in charge at the company said. It can ensure the medicine is safe, he added.

“A lot of medicines come back to us that have never been touched, never been used,” Whitchurch said. “We were required by law to destroy those medicines. We had a lot of guilt from that because we felt like those medicines could safely be reused.”

Although Whitchurch is a member of the Kansas Board of Pharmacy, the board was a “tough sell” because its focus is patient safety, not cost savings, said Debra Billingsley, its executive secretary.

“Once we started to understand the different types of packaging and had a system for pharmacists checking all the medicines, just knowing that we had a safe and secure system, we felt the program could help a lot of people,” Billingsley said.