An efficient and accurate technique for facilitating reverse distribution of pharmaceutical items between customers and manufacturers includes receiving, from the customers, pharmaceutical items returnable for credit to the corresponding manufacturers, identifying similar items based on the national drug code and possibly other criteria to define line items, grouping items according to manufacturer identity, and sending the items to the appropriate manufacturers. The technique further includes receiving credit memoranda from the manufacturers specifying the amount of credit due for the returned items, generating actual amount payable for each item based on the line items and the credit memoranda, and generating disbursement statements for the customers.