Every year, U.S. hospitals and long-term care facilities flush millions of unused medications down the drain, pumping contaminants into America's drinking water. These discarded medications could be expired, spoiled, or simply unused. Patients may leave behind unused medications if they refuse to take them, cannot tolerate them, or pass away. Few of our country's 5,700 hospitals and 45,000 long-term care homes keep data on the pharmaceutical waste they generate. Based on a small sample study, the Associated Press was able to project a national estimate of at least 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals are wasted annually. Some nursing home facilities and state jails report throwing away anywhere from 700 to 1,000 pills a month, and up to 12,000 a year. This leads to an annual loss of $5 billion in wasted drugs. This is billions of dollars literally being flushed away.

Medication redistribution is the solution to this problem. Many facilities are starting to participate in medication redistribution practices. The purpose of this study was to conduct market research on the current medication redistribution practices in Ohio. We surveyed both free clinics and charitable pharmacies as well as assisted living and long-term care facilities. The goal was to discover potential areas of improvement where we can be better stewards of our resources and decrease medication waste.

References

Donn, J, Mendoza, M, Pritchard, J. AP IMPACT: Health care industry sends tons of drugs into nation's wastewater system. Associated Press Writers. 2014. SIRUM. www.SIRUM.org. Accessed March 2, 2015.