ASSESSMENT OF METHODS USED BY REGISTERED PHARMACISTS FOR DISPOSING OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL WASTE AND EXPIRED MEDICINES AT COMMUNITY PHARMACIES IN URBAN AREA

Introduction: The use of improper disposal methods for expired medicine is an emerging issue that is affecting the ecosystem, and misuse of expired medicines is potentially hazardous for public safety. Our study was aimed to assess the methods used by the registered pharmacist for disposing of the expired medicines in community pharmacies. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at a community pharmacy from June to September 2020. Pharmacists were asked to answer a questionnaire by interview method, wherein their socio-demographic details were also captured during this study. Data was collected and analyzed by using Microsoft Excel. Results: 133 pharmacists participated in our study with 76% of response rate. In spite of adequate experience in pharmacy majority of pharmacists lacks the knowledge and awareness about the disposal methods. Our study found that 75% of pharmacists were not even aware of guidelines for the disposal of expired medicines. Due to unawareness of guidelines, 92% of the pharmacist thinks that their pharmaceutical waste disposal method is satisfactory and 80 % pharmacist admitted that generic medicines are not that much carefully handled and disposed of as much as other branded medicine. Conclusion: Our study found that there is no adequate knowledge of pharmaceutical waste disposal methods among the pharmacist, which is eventually becoming a major threat to ecosystem and public safety. The unawareness among these pharmacists is improper education about expired medicine disposal in their pharmacy education.