Pharmacies help with drug disposals
More people are returning their unused drugs to pharmacies and health authorities are pleased not as much is being dumped in the wrong places.
The number of returned medicines, such as expired tablets and bottles, has almost doubled in the area covered by the Midcentral District Health Board, from 60,500 items in 2009-10, to 117,800 in 2016-17.
Pain relief, such as paracetamol and Nurofen, were the most common items, City Health Pharmacy dispensary manager Gladys Agatep sees.
The pharmacy has collected unwanted items for years as part of the Midcentral DHB’S free disposal service for unwanted medicines and needles.
Because pain relief medications were highly prescribed, it was good that people had an option to dispose of them appropriately, rather than chucking them in a bin, she said.
Each week, two bins are brimming with medicines, which are collected and counted by a pharmacy that holds the contract with Midcentral.
It was prohibited to dump medicines in landfills because of the risk to the environment, and flushing them down the toilet or hand basin could result in waterway contamination.
However, Cook St Pharmacy owner Anthony Roberts said bulk prescriptions could also be a factor in how many medicines were being thrown out.
Although he did not believe health professionals deliberately over-prescribed drugs, funding models encouraged bulkdispensing of medicines, he said.
Having a whole lot of pain relief ‘‘floating around the district’’ posed a poisoning risk, which included a risk to children.
It was important to have a safe system in place to dispose of drugs properly, he said.