var recipDD = document.getElementById("recipientsdd");

for (var k = 0; k < recipsin.length; ++k) {
    var opt = document.createElement("option");
    opt.value = recipsin[k];

    var opttext = document.createTextNode(recipsNamein[k]);

    opt.appendChild(opttext);

    // originally
    // recipDD.appendChild(opt);

    try {
        recipDD.add(opt, null);
    }
    catch {
        recipDD.add(opt);
    }
}