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Every day in this country,

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families are forced to make
impossible choices

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when it comes to their health care,

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like Kimberly, who said,

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"There was times I had to choose
between my food and my pills.

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It wasn't luxury stuff,

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because I didn't make that much.

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It was like, can I get
shampoo or conditioner?

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Things you take for granted.

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And Debbie, who said,

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"You put your medicine in one hand,

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your living costs in the other.

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OK, well what am I gonna do?

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Am I gonna get my medicine

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or am I gonna pay my bills?

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Well, I can't live without my medicine,

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but I can't live if I don't pay my bills."

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Ten thousand people die
every month in this country

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because they don't take
the medicine that they need.

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More people die
from not taking medications

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than opioid overdoses
and car accidents combined.

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But you can't take medicine
if you can't afford it.

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Today, the average household

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spends 3,000 dollars
a year on medications.

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About a third of folks who are uninsured

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said that they stopped
taking medicine as prescribed

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because of cost.

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Even folks with insurance,

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if they make under 35,000 dollars a year,

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half of them report
skipping the medications

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if their insurance doesn't cover it.

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So there are 10 million adults
like Kimberly and like Debbie

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who are forced to make
impossible choices every day.

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We all know that prescription
drug prices are too high,

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and our health care system,

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that makes some folks uninsured
and other folks underinsured,

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doesn't prioritize
people who need access now

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and need medications now.

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Ten million, it's a big number,

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but it's also a solvable number,

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because there's also 10 billion dollars
of perfectly good unused medication

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that goes to waste.

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So this is an injustice on two sides:

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people not getting the medicine
that they need to survive and to thrive,

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and that very same medication
being sent to a medical waste incinerator

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to be destroyed.

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This waste is unconscionable,
but it also offers an opportunity.

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I started SIRUM,

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a not for profit technology company,
with my cofounders Adam and George,

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to turn discarded medications
into a lifeline

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just like the medications
in this warehouse.

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We may not be able to fix

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all the ways in which
our health care system is failing us,

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but we can fix this one.

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Medications come from manufacturers
and wholesalers who have safety stock,

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and when it's short-dated,
they destroy it.

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It also comes from health care facilities
like hospitals, pharmacies

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and nursing homes
who end up with surplus

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when a patient stops taking medication
or when they pass away.

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We can use this untapped
source of medications

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to supply all 10 million people
who need medications,

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and we can do this today.

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SIRUM gets surplus medications

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by putting recycling bins into
these hundreds of facilities

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that have surplus.

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They fill the bin,
and when the box is full,

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SIRUM initiates a courier pickup
to pick up that medication,

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and we handle the shipping, the tracking,
the manifests, and the tax receipt.

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Medicine donors want to donate
because it's actually cheaper an easier

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than the highly regulated
medicine destruction process,

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and there are strong tax incentives
to actually donate.

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We then deliver those donated
medications to people who need it.

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A new prescription comes in,

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and our platform matches that patient need
with the inventory that's available.

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Our platform then generates
a warehouse pick list,

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the medications are picked
and the prescriptions filled.