Best Method To Discard Expired Drugs By Individual And Pharmacist

Expired drugs are drugs that have pass their shelf life. These drugs need be discarded. The reason is simple. Expired drugs can be dangerous to health when consume. Since they are thought to be healing products, anybody can take it thinking it is safe without checking it out. Other drugs that falls into this category are certain medications that should be discarded after opening after some time.
However, there are certain procedures in doing this in certain countries. Nigeria have settings for discarding these drugs which majority do not know. Wrongly discarding these products can be harmful to us or our love ones.

Expiring date

Expired drugs are a normal thing around the world. They can be found in the homes of individuals, community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy and in industrial companies either in finish form or raw materials. The process are all the same with a slight difference. Below is the method suitable for each category.

Home Expired Drugs

It is advisable to stock over the counter drugs in the house. Some of these products can be found in a first aid box. However, it is very likely that some of them may pass their shelf life without having any use for it. In that case, it is very important to replace them with ones with far dated expiring date while discarding the expired one(s).
Discarding expired products in regular waste can prove fatal. A child can pick them up and take them with the mind set that they have seen daddy or mummy taking them. The end result may be bad.
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Some product manufacturers actually gives a detail process how to discard their products after its shelf life. One of the ways of discarding them is through the toilet. However, there have been a recent worry on the health implications of this method as the products can find their way into public or private pipe borne water. It is advisable to only do this for products whose label approve it.
Burying drugs can be bad especially if it can be unearth by animals or even children playing. Who can predict the implications of such acts. No one. Better safe than sorry. Anyway, burying syrups in an environment far away from water supply is feasible.
To discard tablets, they can be mixed with unpalatable things like dungs. The mixture wrap in a plastic bag should be tied or sealed. At the end, discard in a regular waste. All drug cans should also be discarded. But in situation whereby they remain in the house or use for another purpose, their label must be remove to avoid mix-up.
The last option is to take your expired drugs to your community pharmacy or the industry. They have a system in place for discarding expired drugs.

Industry Expired Drugs

Many industries loss a lot due to expired drugs in their warehouse. The reason is simple. Production far outpace demand. This is common when competitors products fair better thereby cutting down on demand. Not only drugs but raw materials also get hit. However, there are procedures for discarding these products as the raw materials cannot be use to produce a healthy drug or the expired drug no longer suitable for use.
The first step is to sort out expired drugs. This involve the name of the active and excipient, class of drug and other vital information that will help to determine the best method to discard it. The company must apply to national agency for food and drug administration and control (NAFDAC) for approval to destroy the products. The application letter must contain the name of the drug, method of destruction (public method means the drugs will be destroyed by NAFDAC while private means a private company will take charge).
NAFDAC with then send their officers to the location to verify the data according to the application letter sent earlier. This involve identifying the products and separation by the officers. Once they approve it, it is expected that the company should make immediate payment to NAFDAC if they want to go public. When payment have been approved, a date will be sent to the company to verify if it will be ok by them for the destruction.
On the day of the destruction, a police officer or a regulatory officer from NAFDAC must accompany the vehicle or van. The van must be close door vehicle to prevent exposing both driver and officer to the toxic effect of the chemical. At the site, a team of NAFDAC officers known as regulatory officers will be there to supervise the destruction.
After the whole process, a 'destruction witness form' sign by both the owner and the supervisor is attached to the report of destruction and sent to the office of director.
A written application for 'certificate of destruction' with details of inventory of products destroyed is attached and sent to the director. The certificate of destruction is issued to a representative of the company.

Community And Hospital Pharmacy Expired Drugs

Expired drugs

Both the umbrella body of hospital and community pharmacy have taken the work off the shoulders of their members by making the process somewhat easy. Instead of going through the rigorous process above, members sort out their products and give to their body who then make all necessary arrangements with NAFDAC.
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Every once in a year in Nigeria, they bring all their expired drugs to NAFDAC. Boskel Nigeria limited facility in port Harcourt has an incinerator that is use sometimes by NAFDAC. Their choice to use them widely will depends on the nature and type of drugs to be destroyed. The incinerator are equipped with scrubbers and quenchers that help reduce the amount of gas that goes out into the air. The waste is then converted to ash and buried. Of recent, the company in a view to investigate how safe the buried ash are decides to turn the ash into small bricks while analysing the end products.
In some other cases, these drugs are burn in open field. I cannot say how safe this method is. But one thing for sure is it will be very difficult to burn all the products when they are many as those under the heal will not get the fire due to lack of oxygen getting there. This may expose them to scavengers who may steal and repackage them for selling or use. Another implications of this method is the health impact it may have on people who are living some distance away from these sites. Who knows the health implications of burnt drugs to humans considering different drugs have different components.
Well, even though Nigeria system is not perfect like why is obtainable in foreign countries we still have a process we all can use to our advantage. It is better to take off these products from sight and safely discard them than storing them up for no use.
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