OUR resident specialist and NHS GP, Dr Zoe Williams, shares her expert advice.
Today, Dr Zoe helps a reader who wants to know how unused medication from a late family member could be used.
Q) A VERY dear member of our family, Mike, recently passed away at the age of 86.
I knew Mike for over 20 years and he never really enjoyed good health.
He was prescribed a myriad of medications over the years so there are numerous unopened packets now not required.
Any thoughts on how this unused medication may be used?
I believe pharmacists will not / cannot accept them. But discarding them seems a waste of NHS money.
A) You’re right that, unfortunately, most unused medicines cannot be reused, even if unopened.
Pharmacists and the NHS are legally required to ensure any medication supplied is safe, stored correctly and traceable.
Once medicines have left the pharmacy, there’s no way to guarantee how they’ve been stored – for example, whether they’ve been kept at the correct temperature – so they can’t be given to another patient.
That said, pharmacies widely accept unused medicines for safe disposal, and this is the best and safest way to deal with them.
Please don’t throw medicines in the household bin or flush them down the toilet, as this can harm the environment.
Community pharmacies have established systems to dispose of medications responsibly.
It’s understandable to feel frustrated about waste, particularly given the pressures on the NHS.
But returning your unused medicines to a pharmacy does still help in a broader sense – it prevents accidental harm, misuse or environmental contamination, and allows the NHS to track prescription patterns and improve future practice.
