Italy holds the record for drug waste. An expense that costs several million euros. Tick an app to avoid all this.
Here you are waste of medicines it is undoubtedly a serious problem affecting our entire country. The numbers are really creepy. In fact, it is calculated that the waste of medicines in Italy is equal to the astronomical figure of 2 billion euros a year.
A real drain if we consider that a part of these drugs is loanable and therefore charged to the state coffers. Every year we throw an average of one kilo of medicines into the trash. Intact and never opened packages, bought with compulsion and ended up in the lockers until the expiry date: in fact 40 percent of medicines stored by Italian families have exceeded the limit of validity. The pills we waste the most, according to data from the National Medicines Agency, are antibiotics, followed by analgesics, syrups, drugs for hypertension and heart failure, antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants. All expensive medicines.
How to check the expiration date of medicines
Taking a look at the packaging of our medicines at home is therefore a fundamental action to understand which ones should be thrown away and which ones to keep. However, there are several studies on expired drugs. Luke Withouthead of the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology and Prescriptive Appropriateness of the Institute Mario Negri Irccsin an interview with Adnkronos Salute he somewhat reassured those who are more distracted about drug expiration dates: “It’s not that the day after expiration the drug can cause problems or be ineffective. Don’t be too scared. No case of toxicity from expired drug has been reported in the literature. What can usually happen is that effectiveness is lost. But, even here, all the studies that have evaluated this aspect have shown that for periods even very distant from the expiry date this thing does not occur”.
I waste expired medicines
There is a fact that should make everyone reflect on the waste of medicines in our country. I am 1 million and 300 thousand Italians who regularly take medications. Numbers in hand, each of them takes more than 10 medicines each. Really amazing stuff. For heaven’s sake, no one wants to replace doctors and their prescriptions but frankly such a large number of medicines is starting to be worrying. The waste also depends on this. Giving meds for every mild symptom a patient has gets more and more engulfed in the system. Then there is also the economic aspect. In the past, doctors have been reported who were paid by pharmaceutical companies which, upon payment, forced the doctor to prescribe that medicine in order to have an economic return. A real bribe if we want to be honest. In any case, to avoid waste, an application called TT-No Waste which acquires medicines about to expire to donate them to those who need them most, including private individuals and non-profit associations. We remind you that in Italy not everyone can afford to be treated with drugs not included in the National Health System. With the increase in inflation, the price of pharmaceutical products has also undergone a decidedly high increase. Safeguarding the law while also avoiding waste is a duty.
