Waste prescription drugs – still blaming patients?
Patients have been asked to help cut medicines waste, which costs Bristol £3.5 million a year. Patients and healthcare professionals in Bristol are being asked to help stop medicines going […]
Search results for: prescription
Prescription drug residues in natural water sources
The world is rightly concerned about the presence of prescription drugs in natural water sources. Everywhere you look, in wastewater discharges from hospitals, in lakes and rivers, and in drinking water, […]
Cutting medicines waste through prescription control
What a novel concept! Fortunately, we have taken steps to shift the focus of attention, and bring forward the implementation of some controls, though there is a long way to go! […]
4 billion prescriptions annually
People in the United States took more prescription drugs than ever last year, with the number of prescriptions increasing from 3.99 billion (with a cost of $308.6 billion) in 2010 to […]
Is the US prescription drug takeback law the right approach?
GreenBiz.com is questioning the suitability of new US laws that will require pharmaceutical manufacturers to make a financial contribution to disposal of their products. “Officials in Alameda County, California are breaking new […]
Prescription drug round-up collects over 250,000 pills
It’s easy done, and very effective. Though there is rapidly increasing concern about teh presence of pharmaceutical residues in wastewater, and thereby in natural waters, little seems to be done […]
More prescriptions, more waste
Scotland’s GPs are complaining that the free prescription policy in Scotland puts on them extra pressure with patients wanting their free prescription for this, that and the other. Last updated: […]
US National prescription drug take-back day
On many previous occasions, the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum has reported occasional take-back schemes for unwanted prescription drugs operating across local or regional communities. These prove very successful, as cheap […]
Wales urges patients to avoid prescription waste
Patients have been urged to stop stockpiling prescription drugs after the NHS revealed upwards of 250 tonnes of prescription pills have been wasted. Last updated: Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Medicinal Waste and Medicines Reuse
Public Attitudes towards Medicinal Waste and Medicines Reuse in a ‘Free Prescription’ Healthcare System. McRae D, Gould A, Price-Davies R, Tagoe J, Evans A, James DH. Pharmacy (Basel). 2021 Apr […]
Burglars enter locked HES site
Screaming inevitably the piles of legs, arms and whatever, the newspapers report two burglars arrested after breaking into the HES site at Longbenton, North Tyneside. Adding to the shock horror […]
Drug-resistant bacteria isolated from UK wastewater treatment facilities
Researchers have isolated pathogenic, drug-resistant bacteria from wastewater treatment facilities in the UK. Drug-resistant bacteria are increasingly a public health concern as they can lead to serious illness or death, […]
Canvey not clearing needles and clinical waste
Needles and clinical waste are not being collected raising fears about disease and the safety of bin collectors. Castle Point Council is due to take over the collection of clinical […]
Fenland to impose charges to patients for domestic sharps collections
As we noted previously, it is now confirmed that Fenland District Council WILL bill patients directly for the collection of sharps containers from domestic premises. We reported on news reports […]
Mum must pay to dispose of her 12-year-old’s diabetic needles
A Mum is reported to be “utterly shocked” after being told she will have to pay to dispose of her 12-year-old diabetic daughter’s needles, and quite rightly so. A council […]
Pharmaceutical drugs in York’s rivers
Scientists have found 29 different types of pharmaceutical drugs in York’s two rivers. Samples from the Foss and the Ouse contained a range of drugs – including antidepressants and antibiotics. The […]
FDA Proposes reclassification of Needle Destruction Devices
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday proposed reclassifying the needle destruction device, renamed as “sharps needle destruction device,” from a Class III device into Class II (special controls), […]
Dumped pills are not the main source of drugs in sewage
The next time you pick up a prescription, you might notice a message on the label exhorting you not to flush leftover pills down the toilet. This advice reflects the […]
Reducing pharma waste in the community
A NEW campaign aimed at saving the NHS in south west Essex millions of pounds has recently been launched. The WASTE NOT, WANT NOT – MEDICINES WASTE campaign will tackle […]
Harringay/Veolia Clinical Waste Collection
Harringay Online carries the following plea from a resident trying hard to dispose of a small sharps bin, and trapped in a cycle of communication failure and inertia between the […]
Excessive GP prescribing
Excess GP prescribing is almost certainly responsible for massive wastage of NHS funds, increasing antibiotic resistance, and the vast quantities of unwanted pharmaceuticals stored at home, eventually to find their […]
Pens like hypodermic needles sold as Halloween novelties
Pens that look like hypodermic needles are being sold as Halloween novelty toys, stirring concerns among parents and drug abuse prevention advocates as the country battles a rising heroin and […]
Pharmacies to take over bulk of annual flu vaccinations
The new national pharmacy flu immunisation scheme could see pharmacists paid more than GPs to administer the vaccinations, leading to the GPC calling for a review of payments. The pharmacy […]
Fined for dumping clinical (medicines) waste
UK ‘man with a van’ is fined for dumping household refuse and unwanted prescription drugs. A man who dumped a significant stash of prescription medicines on a country lane after […]
Vast cost of medicines waste in north Norfolk – who is to blame?
Hundreds of thousands of pounds are wasted in north Norfolk due to medicine wastage. Said to be due to patients’ stockpiling medicines this could not be further from the truth. […]
Removing pharma waste from the community
On the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum we have for some years now been pushing for community-wide hazardous waste take-back arrangements, organised perhaps by local authorities who might make available better […]
HIV outbreak linked to needle sharing
Indiana health officials say the number of people in five southern Indiana counties testing positive for HIV through needle-sharing among painkiller abusers has grown by one to 27. The Indiana […]
NHS unveils plans to cut £300m worth of medicines waste
The NHS has unveiled plans to cut up to £300m worth of medicines waste from its budgets. Hurrah. Overprescribing is the problem. Too quick with the pen to write a […]
It takes all sorts – theft from sharps bin
Theft of sharps bins can be quite common in some cities, as we have noted previously on the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum, but is less common now than it used […]
High cost of island healthcare waste disposal
Six figure bill for destroying healthcare waste It has recently been reported that it costs NHS Shetland £150,000 a year to ship medical waste south for destruction – enough to pay […]