THIS week's contributor is Toni Riley, Community Pharmacist and Project Manager of National Return of Unwanted Medicines - There are many reasons why it is not a good idea to store unwanted medicines at home. In 2016 more than 5,000 children were hospitalised because of accidental poisoning with medicines found in their homes. And almost 900 adults were also hospitalised because of the same reason.
In 2010-2012 accidental poisoning (includes medicines as well as other household poisons) was the 15th cause of premature death in Australia. And two in three of those deaths were males.
Expired medicines are also a potential hazard in the home as well. All medicines have an expiry date, after which the potency and stability of the medicines are no longer within acceptable specifications.
Medicines degrade over time and become less effective and potentially even toxic. Needless to say, storage conditions have quite a significant impact on this rate of degrading -- medicines stored in the glovebox of a car are far more likely to contain less active ingredient than those stored in the ideal conditions.
These are frightening large numbers, but community pharmacy has a role to play in ensuring that consumers understand the dangers that lurk in their medicines cabinets.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 24 Jul 17
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