Ethically Kate: What happens to old medicines, can I return them?

Most of us have a cupboard filled with expired or unused medications that sit there simply because we don’t know what to do with them! Photo / 123rf

OPINION:

After talking to multiple pharmacists to confirm my answer to your question, it’s clear that we all need more direction around what to do with old medications alongside a more precise understanding of what happens to them and why. Most of us have a cupboard filled with expired or unused medications that sit there simply because we don’t know what to do with them!

Several years ago when I found out I could drop my unused medications to the pharmacy, I was stoked. I gleefully dropped them off at my local pharmacy while imagining my unused medications saving someone’s life (because they wouldn’t have had access to the medications if not for my donation), and jumped back on my bike with a smug smile. Unfortunately, my altruism was misguided and false.

If you have medications that you no longer need, opened or unopened, expired or current, please return them to your local pharmacy. Photo / 123rf

In the majority of cases, medications are incinerated on return. More toxic medications, like cytotoxics, are sent offshore to be incinerated as we don’t have the technology to do this in New Zealand. Incinerating them properly is much safer for the environment than throwing them away and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strongly discourages flushing them down the toilet or sink too.

The philanthropic idea that your unused medications will help others is tainted when you consider the unethical results of doing this on a large scale. Firstly, the medications that get sent as aid are often not what is needed. For example, after a natural disaster or emergency, medications like antibiotics and pain relief are in great need yet these medications are not commonly returned. Issues around dependency on infrequent medication donations are also concerns. When the wrong medications are sent overseas, they also become a burden for others to destroy.

It seems like a wonderful idea to distribute old medications to people without access or funds for them, but instead, we must focus on preventing accumulating unused medicines and support countries without access to medications with new resources, not our dirty seconds. People with poorer health outcomes need the best levels of care; they don’t deserve our expired medications that may or may not have been stored correctly (e.g. consistent temperatures).

If you have medications that you no longer need, opened or unopened, expired or current, please return them to your local pharmacy. Next time you’re prescribed medications, order only what you need and communicate clearly with your doctor around what you can and cannot take. Groups like Medical Aid Abroad accept some unused medications, so get in touch with them if this applies to your leftovers.