Division of Bioorganic Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbruecken, Germany.
UTCBS (Chemical and Biological Technologies for Health Group), Faculté de Pharmacie de Paris, Université de Paris, CNRS, INSERM, 75006 Paris, France.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Jan 27;17(3):787. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17030787.
A massive volume of expired medications amasses annually around the world because of pharmaceutical overprescription, combined with overproduction. The accumulation of pharmaceutical waste imposes ecological, economic and social/ethical burdens. Managing this presumed "waste" has developed into a global challenge due to the absence of specific regulations, unreasonable behavior of the patients, and an improper understanding of the concept of "expired medications" in general. This paper summaries, first, the recent literature reporting practices related to the disposal of unused medications. In this context, 48 papers from 34 countries with a total of 33,832 participants point towards a significant lack of public awareness regarding the appropriate disposal of such biologically potent chemicals. These findings are corroborated by a local survey on the disposal practices of unused medicines among pharmacy students at Saarland University. The regulatory aspects surrounding this topic, often based on the official guidelines for the disposal of expired medications and local waste management strategies, are then discussed in light of these findings. Finally, a closer inspection of the epistemic values of expired medications and different strategies for managing expired medications have been reviewed.
由于药物过量处方和过度生产，每年全球都会产生大量过期药物。药物废物的堆积给生态、经济和社会/伦理带来了负担。由于缺乏具体法规、患者行为不合理以及对“过期药物”概念的普遍误解，管理这些所谓的“废物”已成为一个全球性挑战。本文首先总结了最近有关处理未使用药物的文献报道。在这方面，来自 34 个国家的 48 篇论文共涉及 33832 名参与者，表明公众对如何妥善处理这些具有生物活性的化学物质的认识严重不足。这些发现得到了萨尔兰大学药学学生对未使用药物处理实践的本地调查的证实。然后根据这些发现，讨论了围绕这一主题的监管方面，这些方面通常基于过期药物处理的官方指南和当地废物管理策略。最后，还对过期药物的认识论价值以及过期药物管理的不同策略进行了更详细的审查。
