WITH rising cost-of-living pressures forcing patients to be frugal, pharmacists are being urged to warn customers of the dangers of hoarding expired medicines.
Writing in the Pharmacy Guild of Australia's Forefront newsletter, the organisation's Executive Director, Suzanne Greenwood, stressed that unused medicines were the "big exception" to the "waste-not, want-not" adage.
"It is widely known that keeping expired or unwanted medicines in the home can be dangerous, particularly if small children are in the home or visit it.
"Children may accidentally access the medicines which can have serious implications which we all want to avoid.
"In addition, older people may become confused with too many medicines in the home and may inadvertently take an expired medicine, or a medicine that their doctor no longer thinks is appropriate for their condition.
"Some medicines deteriorate with time, and this results in changes to their chemical composition; changes which can make the medicines less effective or, in some cases, potentially harmful and toxic if they are used after their expiry date.
"Getting rid of those unwanted medicines is therefore important, but just as important is getting rid of them correctly and safely.
"The question then is how can we safely dispose of these medicines?
"And the answer which many people may not be aware of is that you can safely dispose of them where you got them -- at your community pharmacy through an innovative program called Return Unwanted Medicines (RUM).
"The program is operated by a national not-for-profit company funded by the Commonwealth Government through the Department of Health as part of the Quality Use of Medicines commitment in Australia."
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 16 Aug 22
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 16 Aug 22
