40% of all prescription medications go unused
The Community Medical Foundation for Patient Safety is anonprofit organization and leader in patient safety research andeducation. In 2004, the Foundation created the National Unused &Expired Medicines Registry and began systematic collection of unusedand expired (UEM) data from drug take-back programs in the country. TheFoundation produced the first standardized data collection instrumentand protocol for the classification and analysis of UEM. This Registryis the first and only national one of its kind that is collecting andcompiling UEM data.
The Registry can characterize UEM, calculate waste and cost of returnedmedicines, and identify potential adverse environmental impacts. TheRegistry is a useful repository of information that can be shared amongdifferent agencies to 1) monitor and compare UEM collections bygeographical regions and over time, 2) evaluate the efficacy ofcollection and disposal programs and identify best practices, 3)provide data for public policy analysis; 4) conduct research regardingpatient safety and public safety, and 5) detect emerging problems withpharmaceutical products (e.g., non-adherence to medicines due adverseside effect or drug interaction).
The Registry contains data on more than 20,000 items representingreturned medicines that would otherwise be thrown in the trash orflushed down the sink or toilet and data on more than an estimated 1million pills, capsules, and tablets. UEM Collection samples from thewest and east coasts indicate an estimated 40% waste of prescriptionmedicines (items and proportion of the medicines that were never usedby the patients). Preliminary results of the first annual survey, whichidentified 61 drug take-back programs across the nation, were presentedat the recent Sixth Annual Maine Benzodiazepine Study Group Conference& Fifth Annual Unused Drug Return Conference. http://www.epa.gov/aging/resources/epareports.htm#2008-sfhe
Source/more: http://www.epa.gov/aging/resources/presentations/2008_0911_she2008-rx-sykes-2.pdf