ArticleExploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy2022
Analysis of medicines returned to pharmacies for disposal and estimation of the cost due to medicine wasting.
Article in Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Unused and expired medicines waste in Ireland - an audit of medicines returned to and generated in community pharmacies.Irish journal of medical science · 2026Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding the Disposal of Unused and Expired Medicines in Romania During the Early Implementation of the 2023 Hospital-Based Collection Framework.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- From Policy to Practice: Community Pharmacists' Self-Reported Counseling Role in Pharmaceutical Waste Management.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- From medicine cabinets to ecosystems: a Europe-wide assessment of household pharmaceutical waste disposal practices.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Medication non-adherence as a driver of pharmaceutical waste: integrating top-down policies with bottom-up practice.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Amount, type and storage of medicines in households - A survey for medicine users.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2025Article
- Evaluation of antibiotics returned for safe disposal during and after a community pharmacy antibiotic amnesty campaign.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2024Article
- Do pharmacists counsel customers on the disposal of unused or expired household medications? A national survey among 1,596 pharmacists in Indonesia.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2024Article
- Unused medicine take-back programmes: a systematic review.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2024Review
- Emicizumab prophylaxis for people with hemophilia A: Waste estimation and the Brazilian perspective.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2023Article
- Unused medication: mapping the impact across the Dutch healthcare system.The journal of climate change and healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Studies have shown that waste medicines generate a significant cost for the national health system (NHS) in many countries. No data are available on costs and therapeutic classes of unused medicines in Italy.Objective: Conduct a quantitative and qualitative analysis of unused medicines returned for disposal to selected pharmacies in Rome, Italy, as well as to estimate the related costs for the NHS. Methods: Medicines returned to 4 pharmacies were collected for 8 months. Therapeutic class, number of remaining dosage units, remaining validity, and reimbursement by the NHS were analysed. The cost of reimbursed medicines was estimated on the prices provided by the Italian regulatory agency (AIFA). Results: The study sample consisted of 3219 medicine packages containing remaining dosage units, of which 72.4% had expired while 27.6% had not. The average remaining validity of unexpired medicines was 13 months. Medicines reimbursed by the NHS accounted for 73% of the total. Cardiovascular drugs and anti-infectives were the main therapeutic classes (17.2% and 15.2% of total packages, respectively), followed by gastrointestinal drugs, central nervous system (CNS) drugs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and corticosteroids. The average of remaining dosage units found in the examined packages was 68% of the initial number of units. In terms of cost, antibiotics were the most relevant therapeutic class, followed by cardiovascular drugs, analgesics, corticosteroids, and NSAIDs. The estimated cost for the Italian NHS was € 200,656,780 per year. Conclusion: Waste medicines constitute a significant, but reducible cost for the NHS. The high prevalence of anti-infectives in the study sample appears to be a distinctive Italian characteristic and may be due to inappropriate prescribing. Policies aimed at reducing waste should improve prescriptive appropriateness and increase the variety of packaging size.
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Registered trials
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