An unused drug or leftover drug is the medicine which remains after the consumer has quit using it. Individual patients may have leftover medicines at the end of their treatment. Health care organizations may keep larger amounts of drugs as part of providing care to a community, and may have unused drugs for a range of reasons.
Causes
Various circumstances may cause a consumer to have unused drugs. The consumer might find that their medication is ineffective and quit taking it. The medicine might be effective, but the consumer might not adhere to their treatment and fail to take it for any reason. A patient might die, leaving their medications behind. A patient might move, such as from a hospital to their home, and somehow leave their unused drugs behind with the health care provider. Some medical professional practices lead to patients having unused drugs. Physicians may prescribe more than they should. Physicians and patients might see each other less often than they should, and the physician might agree to prescribe medication for a longer period of time than is best. The physician might neglect to review what medications a patient already has, and recommend more. The medical office might have confused records about what drugs a patient has, especially for offices without full computer records. Also a physician might provide drugs inappropriately in unnecessary health care.
Scope of the issue
Lots of individual consumers store unused drugs. Many health care organizations come to acquire large amounts of unused drugs.
Collection of unused drugs, also called drug return or drug take-back, is any program for individual consumers to dispose of drugs by returning their unused drugs to a collection center. One survey of consumers found that individuals like the idea of pharmacies accepting drug returns. Drug return programs can reduce the environmental impact of pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Various research projects have investigated drug return programs at pharmacies in particular regions. Studied places include the United States, Britain, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Serbia, and Germany.
Leftover opioids
People in the United States tend to store unused opioids if any remain unused after medical treatment. Keeping unused opioids is a dangerous because it they become a risk for misuse.