General Chat

I worked in a hospital pharmacy (also worked in retail prior to this) they cannot take back unused medicines even if they were dispensed the day before due to not knowing if they were stored in the correct temperature and enviroment. To reuse medicines (would you like to use someone's recycled drugs) would be classed as fraud.
The cost to employ people to go through medicines and sort out the expiry dates, batch numbers and quantities would be astronomical and of course this could be open to abuse/theft.
Controlled drugs i.e. Morphine, Diamorphine etc come under even more restrictions and there are only 26 types of people allowed to be in possession (including the patient).

The drugs (unwanted) are put into containers and have to be collected and then disposed of in an incinerator there is a lot of paperwork involved.
Cytotoxic drugs (for cancer patients) are put in seperate containers and incinerated at a very high temp.
This is a brief summary.
Pat

a thought provoking thread, i will check my cabinet today and take all the out of date/unwanted medications to the local chemist, its suprising how much builds up isnt it

as requested, letter today sent to the South Wales Echo

15th February 2008

UNUSED MEDICATION

I am sure there are literally hundreds of us in Cardiff alone, who after caring for sick relatives who subsequently die, are left with unused, and very often unopened, medication. The advice given is to either destroy it yourself or take it to a pharmacy and they will dispose of it. This seems to me a disgraceful thing to do when there are people dying in the third world for lack of medication. Surely there must be a way of collecting this unwanted medication and channelling it to those in need? I would have thought that an organisation such as Oxfam or similar organisaton could assist in this.

I agree that we could sometimes save our unwanted medicine for the poor of the world, but then there is all the red tape. Plus the drugs would need to be in good condition, as in unopened and in date.

I do think though that we should help our poorer sisters and brothers more.

Deanna X

Last year I asked my local Freecycle if anyone knew of an organisation which could make better use of "waste" medications and so found out about INTER CARE.

Intercare is an organisation which sends the "waste" medicines to Africa. Their website is http://www.intercare.org.uk/
Copied below is an excerpt from their website so folk can see what they are about. Please visit their website for more detailed info.

"Inter Care collects returned prescription NHS medicines, for Humanitarian Aid in Africa. Can you help us? Do you have valuable experience/skills in raising awareness or persuasion? Do you have connections with any health services in the UK? Do you want to protect the UK environment but are not sure where to start? Do you hate waste? Or do you have left over medicines? Our aim is to send all good medicines & equipment, unwanted in the UK, to Africa.
This results in four benefits, it:
1. Reduces NHS medical waste (we send the returned good medicines to Africa)
2. Saves the NHS money (by reducing the amount of returned medicines
for landfill)
3. Saves African Lives (5 million at the last count)
4. Saves our Environment (from landfill)"

Thank you Tracey......................I'll go and look at the site :))

xx

(nudged in case of further interest)

Just popped in for a few mins, as I am off to bed in a min.... early morning at work tommorrw.......I will come back to this thread sunday night,monday, or tuesday if thats ok,(got dentist monday, so might be ugh)
I am still very interested in this thread putting forward comments,
Thanks everyone,for comments so far.....
cmd x....

n

We once collected stuff in the surgery for the Third World -dressings etc , they had to have a use by date of 6 months time. Surely any medicines unopened eg antibiotics can be used, not opened packs -that`s understandable
Ros xx

When we lived in Spain,we took our unused medicines and unopened pills to the sisters of Mercy.They would take anything and very grateful for it.
I agree that if it is sealed and not out of date,if it could do some good to the poor and needy,or,say,Africa,It can't be a bad thing,and much better than being incinerated.
Brenda x

On a slightly different subject but relevant to this thread -

My gran had breast cancer and had a breast removed. When she died we found numerous prosthetic breasts scattered around the house. These were designed to be worn in her bra and were not just cosmetic, they also had the function of balancing her out and so preventing her developing a crooked spine. They helped her keep her dignity and her posture.

Alas, we didn't know they could be passed on to other people so they all ended up in the bin. I suspect there must be a scheme to redistribute such items too.

I know the Red Cross can redistribute crutches, walking aids and even prosthetic legs - there is plenty of demand in countries with land-mine casualties and, as I discovered, amonst the poor and needy in the UK.

Tracey,
another item...
I have worn glasses all my life, and I hand over to my optitian my unwanted old ones....and when father in law died handed his over too....there were about 12pairs in his house.....she takes them over to africa somewhere....
cmd

We give old eyeglasses to the Lions club who distribute to third world or through 'doctors without borders'.

I could really get angry about this ......sorry but
We dont recycle the stuff we should do like .....food! we throw loads in the bin every year ...coz its gone of!!! Well eat it dont let it "go of"

My friend had two black sack full of drugs after she died ...hate to have passed them on ...she or her Boyfriend could have tampered with them ...then what would you say .............

Thats it all done

I give my old specs to my opticians and they send them off somewhere in the world!!

thought you would like to know that my letter as posted a page or two back has been printed in this evening's South Wales Echo in it's entirety. We'll see if it brings any comments

n

Well done Ann.......... :)

Amanda xx

n