$2m in discarded meds
March 27, 2014
The first audit of the National
Return and Disposal of Unwanted
Medicines (NatRUM) program has
found that the total government
cost for the 31 most frequently
discarded medicines was estimated
to be $2.05m
Roughly 540 tonnes of medicines
were disposed of annually from
extrapolation and of these, almost
44% had not expired, the audit
found.
The findings will be outlined
in Parliament House today by
assistant Minister for Health Fiona
Nash.
The report said pharmacists with
medical practitioners would have a
pivotal role in optimising medicine
prescription and minimising
wastage.
The audit of 686 bins,
which was conducted by the
Monash University Institute of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, found
that 68% medicines belonged to
five therapeutic classes, with most
medicines for cardiovascular health
(18%), the nervous system (17%)
and the alimentary tract (16%).
Insulin, salbutamol, paracetamol,
frusemide and glyceryl trinitrate
were the top five most commonly
discarded medicines.
The majority of returned
medicines were scheduled at 85%,
with 81% Schedule 4.
Only 2% of bins contained
“inappropriate items,” the report
found, with 2.3% (about 500) of
medicines being Schedule 8 and
12.1% of bins contained sharps,
warranting further investigation as
to why some pharmacists’ did not
comply with protocols regarding
correct disposal of these.
However the report found
that pharmacists were generally
adherent to NatRUM protocols.
Chair Warwick Plunkett said the
findings were likely to generate
a number of recommendations
for government and pharmacy
organisations around the PBS and
the pharmacist’s role in dispensing
medications and their ongoing
management.
The audit findings justified
continued funding for the program
to ensure availability in the future,
the report said.
The audit did not included RUM
bins from Western Australia due to
logistics.
An audit of these bins was hoped
to be performed in the near future,
NatRUM project manager Simon
Appel said.
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