21 tonnes of medicine waste in six months: are we looking after the environment or wasting money?
Shockingly, in the first half of this year, Lithuanian pharmacies collected 21.2 tonnes of outdated or unwanted medicines from the general public. This is 7 tonnes more pharmaceutical waste than in the same period last year. While the rapid increase in waste reflects growing public awareness and responsibility for environmental sustainability, it also reveals that many people purchase and use medicines irrationally.
“Every year we see an increase in the number of medicines returned to pharmacies. In five years, we have reached a level where pharmacies are collecting the same amount of waste medicines in half a year as they used to collect in a year. This is encouraging from an environmental perspective, but we have to wonder whether all these medicines were really needed by patients. If medicines were purchased and used more responsibly, some of this waste would simply not be generated,” says Irma Medžiaušaitė, Senior Adviser of the Pharmaceuticals Reimbursement Division of the National Health Insurance Fund under the Ministry of Health.
Last year, a sociological survey of the population's awareness conducted by the market and public opinion research company “Spinter tyrimai” (Spinter Research) for the NHIF revealed that as many as 66% of households have stockpiled outdated or obsolete medicines. Most of these were retained due to the desire to keep a stock of medicines at home, while 23% were the result of premature discontinuation of medicines. As many as 19% of respondents admitted that this waste accumulates at home because they take fewer medicines than prescribed by their doctor, while 10% of respondents made no secret of the fact that they always buy reimbursed medicines, even though they do not always take them. According to NHIF experts, this shows that a large proportion of medicines are still purchased without sufficient clinical justification, and the population is therefore urged to consult doctors and pharmacists before purchasing medicines and to follow treatment recommendations to avoid unnecessary waste and costs.
In Lithuania, as many as 78% of prescription medicines prescribed to patients are reimbursed. This means that a large proportion of unused medicines returned to pharmacies were paid for by the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund. In addition, patients have paid out-of-pocket premiums for these medicines and the state budget has made a significant contribution to covering the cost of medicines, especially for the most socially vulnerable groups. The irrational use of medicines thus leads to significant financial losses for all.
“If patients and doctors planned their treatment courses properly, irrational use of medicines could be avoided and pharmaceutical waste could be reduced in a targeted way. The savings could be used more efficiently to treat patients, provide healthcare services and reimburse new medicines”, says I. Medžiaušaitė.
Health Insurance Funds remind patients that rational use of medicines means that only the right medicines are prescribed to the patient, taking into account individual needs, the right dosage and the optimal duration of treatment. This process involves close cooperation between the doctor who prescribes the treatment and the patient who follows the instructions. When a doctor first prescribes a reimbursable medicine, he/she may prescribe it for only 10 days in the case of an acute illness, or for a one-month course of treatment in other cases. Only after the patient is satisfied that the medicine is suitable and safe can a prescription be issued for a longer treatment period of up to 3 or 6 months.
People can bring all outdated and unwanted medicines to any pharmacy and return them free of charge. This is the only safe way to protect the environment and prevent possible poisoning.
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Last updated: 06-01-2025
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