Assessing the attitude and behaviour regarding the disposal of expired or unused medicines. Case study: Bucharest, Romania

Author: , , , , , and
Key words: , , , ,
Issue: Volume 14, Issue 2, 2020

Abstract


Given that expired or unused medicines can be dangerous to both public health and the environment, legislative regulations on their handling and management are set up worldwide. One of the most critical measurement is good consumer advice on the safe disposal of medicines. In this context, the purpose of the study was to assess the attitude of pharmaceuticals consumers in Bucharest towards their management and their disposal after the expiration date, as well as to review the policy of pharmaceutical institutions. The study results showed that but in 80% of the cases, consumers in Bucharest do not return expired drugs to pharmacies. Moreover, the population does not benefit from real information campaigns in this regard. The management of expired medicines is insufficiently regulated from a legal point of view, especially in terms of obligation, but also in regard to the sanctions applied to the entities that sell them, which has a severe impact on the current situation.

Full text


Permalink (doi)



Authors Affiliations


Gabriela Manea (1), Ana-Maria Taloș* (1,2), Iuliana Vijulie (1), Mihaela Preda (1), Alina Mareci (1), Roxana Cuculici (1), Octavian Cocoș (1)
1) University of Bucharest, Romania
2) Romanian Young Academy, Romania
* Corresponding author.
Email: ana.talos@geo.unibuc.ro

References


ANMDMR – Agenţia Naţională a Medicamentului şi a Dispozitivelor Medicale din România, (2019), Ordin Nr. 1.522 din 9 octombrie 2019 pentru aprobarea Regulamentului de organizare şi funcţionare al Agenţiei Naţionale a Medicamentului şi a Dispozitivelor Medicale din România. Publicat în Monitorul Oficial nr. 841 bis din 16 octombrie 2019, 24 September 2020, shorturl.at/ltDGL.
Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherhei (2020a), Arzneimittel-Entsorgung richtig gemacht!, 4 October 2020, shorturl.at/huIO9.
Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherhei (2020b), Arzneimittelentsorgung richtig gemacht!, 4 October 2020, shorturl.at/kGPQ2.
Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherhei (2020c), Arzneimittel-Entsorgung richtig gemacht!, 4 October 2020, shorturl.at/wBSY4.
BIO Intelligence Service (2013), Study on the environmental risks of medicinal products, Final Report prepared for Executive Agency for Health and Consumers, 10 October 2020, shorturl.at/imrEG.
Bell, J., Dziekan, G., Pollack, C. and Mahachai, V. (2016), “Self-Care in the Twenty First Century: A Vital Role for the Pharmacist”, Advances in Therapy, vol. 33 no. 10, p. 1691-1703.
Bungau, S., Tit, D.M., Fodor, K., Cioca, G., Agop, M., Iovan, C., Cseppento, D.C.N., Bumbu, A. and Bustea, C. (2018) “Aspects Regarding the Pharmaceutical Waste Management in Romania”, Sustainability, vol. 10, p. 2788.
Cyclamed (2018), Tous ensemble pour trier et rapporter les Médicaments Non Utilisés (M.N.U.) en pharmacie!, 10 October 2020, https://www.cyclamed.org/cyclamed/.
MedsDisposal (2020a), Disposal of medicines in Europe, 4 October 2020, http://medsdisposal.eu/.
MedsDisposal (2020b), Disposal of medicines in Germany, 4 October 2020, http://medsdisposal.eu/#germany.
MedsDisposal (2020c), Disposal of medicines in France, 4 October 2020, http://medsdisposal.eu/#france.
EFPIA – European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (2018) The pharmaceutical industry: a key asset to the European economy, 4 October 2020, shorturl.at/ckyJ2.
Faisal, (2016), “Research Analysis on Barriers to Green Supply Chain Management in Pharmaceutical Industries”, Review of Public Administration and Management, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 176-180.
FDA (2020a), Where and How to Dispose of Unused Medicines, 2 October 2020, shorturl.at/yBRTZ.
FDA (2020b), Drug Disposal: FDA’s Flush List for Certain Medicines, 2 October 2020, shorturl.at/ewHZ8.
Goel, P., Ross-Degnan, D., Berman, P. and Soumerai, S. (1996), “Retail pharmacies in developing countries: A behavior and intervention framework”, Social Science & Medicine, vol. 42, no. 8, p. 1155-1161.
Green Facts (2020), The risks of environmental effects of pharmaceutical and medicinal products, 9 October 2020, shorturl.at/dgjnt.
Green Report (2018), Locul medicamentelor expirate nu e la coșul de gunoi, 10 October 2020, shorturl.at/yBK69.
Harvard Health Publishing (2020), Which painkiller is safest for you?, 10 October 2020, shorturl.at/cdoCG.
Kadam, A., Patil, S., Patil, S. and Tumkur, A. (2016), “Pharmaceutical Waste Management an Overview”, Indian Journal of Pharmacy Practice, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 2-8.
Patil, P.S., Kumbhoje, S.R. and Patil, S.S. (2016), “Pharmaceutical Waste Management-An Overview”, Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, vol. 5, no. 2, p. 1-8.
Paut Kusturica, M., Tomas, A. and Sabo, A. (2017), “Disposal of Unused Drugs: Knowledge and Behavior Among People Around the World”, Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol. 240, p. 71-104.
Portal legislativ (2005), “Legea nr. 339 din 29 noiembrie 2005 privind regimul juridic al plantelor, substanțelor și preparatelor stupefiante și psihotrope”, Monitorul Oficial nr. 1095 din 5 decembrie 2005, 24 September 2020, shorturl.at/ekKU3.
Portal legislativ (2006), “Legea nr. 25 din 14 aprilie 2006 (republicată) privind reforma în domeniul sănătății”, Monitorul Oficial nr. 652 din 28 august 2015, 24 September 2020, shorturl.at/ntMS6.
Portal legislativ (2009), “Norme din 29 iulie 2009 (actualizate) privind înființarea, organizarea și funcționarea farmaciilor și drogheriilor (actualizate până la data de 22 aprilie 2010)”, Publicat în Monitorul Oficial nr. 538 din 23 august 2009, 24 September 2020, shorturl.at/kBHRW.
Portal legislativ (2014), “Ordin nr. 119 din 4 februarie 2014 pentru aprobarea normelor de igienă și sănătate publică privind modul de viață al populației”, Monitorul Oficial nr. 127 din 21 februarie 2014, 24 September 2020, shorturl.at/fiFNU.
Portal legislativ (2019), “Norme din 25 martie 2019 privind înființarea, organizarea și funcționarea unităților farmaceutice”, Monitorul Oficial nr. 270 bis din 9 aprilie 2019, 24 September 2020, shorturl.at/xEITV.
Pratyusha, K., Gaikwad, N.M., Phatak, A.A. and Chaudhari, P.D. (2012), Waste material management in pharmaceutical industry, International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research, 16(2), 121-129.
Sreekanth, K., Gupta, N.V., Raghunandan, H.V. and Kashyap, U.N. (2014), “A Review on Managing of Pharmaceutical Waste in Industry”, International Journal of PharmTech Research, vol. 6, no. 3, p. 899-907.
Stewart, D.C., George, J., Bond, C.M., Cunningham, I.T.S., Diack, H.L. and McCaig, D.J. (2008), “Exploring patients’ perspectives of pharmacist supplementary prescribing in Scotland”, Pharmacy World & Science, vol. 30, no. 6, p. 892-897.
Tong, A.Y., Peake, B.M. and Braund, R., 2011. Disposal practices for unused medications around the world, Environment International, 37 (1):292-8.
UNDP – United Nations Development Programme (1999), Emergency Relief Items – Compendium of Basic Specifications, vol. 2, 10 October 2020, shorturl.at/btvG6.
Univers Farmaceutic (2012), Scurtă istorie a medicamentului, 8 October 2020, shorturl.at/nHKRX.
Univers Farmaceutic (2017), Gestionarea deșeurilor în farmacia comunitară, 29 September 2020, shorturl.at/nDJQ5.
Vellinga, A., Cormican, S., Driscoll, J., Furey, M., Sullivan, M. and Cormican, M. (2014), “Public practice regarding disposal of unused medicines in Ireland”, Science of the Total Environment, vol. 478, p. 98-102.
Xie, Y. and Breen, L. (2012), “Greening community pharmaceutical supply chain in U.K.: a cross boundary approach”, Supply Chain Management, vol. 17 no. 1, p. 40-53.
You, J.H., Wong, F.Y., Chan, F.W., Wong, E.L. and Yeoh, E. (2011), “Public perception on the role of community pharmacists in self-medication and self-care in Hong Kong”, BMC Clinical Pharmacology, vol. 11, no. 19.
Zimmermann, A., Rogowska, J. and Wolska, L. (2018), “Pharmaceutical household waste – role of community pharmacies”, Farmacja polska, vol. 74, no. 1, p. 40-44.

This post has already been read 13737 times!

About journal

Title: Human Geographies - Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography
ISSN online: 2067-2284
ISSN print: 1843-6587
Imprint: University of Bucharest
Frequency: Biannual (May&November)
First volume: 1/2007
Current volume: 18/2024
Language: English
Indexed in: SCOPUS, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO (SocINDEX), ProQuest (Social Science Journals, SciTech Journals, Natural Science Journals), Index Copernicus, National Technical Information Service (NTiS), Bodleian Libraries, ExLibris SFX, DOAJ, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library, Google Scholar, Ulrich
Creative Commons License


EDITORS


Prof. dr. Liliana Dumitrache
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Daniela Dumbrăveanu
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Mariana Nae
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Gabriel Simion
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

SCImago Journal & Country Rank