NEW DELHI: India's top drug regulatory body, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), has released a list of 17 drugs which, it says, should be flushed down the sink if lying unused or expired at home.
This includes fentanyl, Tramadol and several other painkiller drugs and Diazepam which is an anti-anxiety medication.
According to the CDSCO, these drugs may be especially harmful and, in some cases, fatal with just one dose if they are used by someone other than the person for whom the medicine was prescribed. If these drugs are kept unwanted, unused or expired, the drug regulatory body says, they should be flushed down the sink or toilet to prevent danger to people and pets in the home. However, for most other medications used commonly by people, the drug regulatory body in its latest guidelines on disposal of unused/expired drugs recommends that scientific disposal is needed to prevent environmental pollution.
For that, it suggests the initiation of 'drug take back' initiative that could be led by either the state drug control department or local chemists initially but eventually, the CDSCO recommends, the state govt in coordination with local bodies needs to establish the methodology and facility for the collection of and disposal of unused or expired drugs as per the provision of Biomedical Waste Management Rules.
"Initially, state drugs control departments and concerned chemists and druggists' associations may jointly launch 'drug take back' site programme at designated locations, where people can drop expired or unused drugs from their homes and that can be disposed finally by such associations under intimation to concerned state drug licencing authority with the help of registered/licenced external agencies.
The CDSCO guideline follows multiple reports and studies that show how unscientific disposal of unused or unexpired drugs is causing environmental pollution, eventually affecting human life.
A study by led by Dr T Velpandian of AIIMS' ocular pharmacology division that analysed water samples from seven places in Yamuna river, including the entry and exit points, 35 bore wells in Delhi NCR and the water percolating from waste at Ghazipur landfill site in 2018 showed drugs thrown in the waste bins end up in the environment and contribute to the emergence of multi-drug resistant pathogens .
The study showed presence of antibiotics and other drugs in the surface water of river Yamuna and in areas adjacent to the Ghazipur landfill. “The govt move to formulate a guideline on disposal of unused or expired drugs is commendable. We also plan to develop a pamphlet on how to dispose of drugs that will be given to all patients” said Devarat Majumdar, director and chief of pharmacy at Max healthcare.
This includes fentanyl, Tramadol and several other painkiller drugs and Diazepam which is an anti-anxiety medication.
According to the CDSCO, these drugs may be especially harmful and, in some cases, fatal with just one dose if they are used by someone other than the person for whom the medicine was prescribed. If these drugs are kept unwanted, unused or expired, the drug regulatory body says, they should be flushed down the sink or toilet to prevent danger to people and pets in the home. However, for most other medications used commonly by people, the drug regulatory body in its latest guidelines on disposal of unused/expired drugs recommends that scientific disposal is needed to prevent environmental pollution.
For that, it suggests the initiation of 'drug take back' initiative that could be led by either the state drug control department or local chemists initially but eventually, the CDSCO recommends, the state govt in coordination with local bodies needs to establish the methodology and facility for the collection of and disposal of unused or expired drugs as per the provision of Biomedical Waste Management Rules.
"Initially, state drugs control departments and concerned chemists and druggists' associations may jointly launch 'drug take back' site programme at designated locations, where people can drop expired or unused drugs from their homes and that can be disposed finally by such associations under intimation to concerned state drug licencing authority with the help of registered/licenced external agencies.
The CDSCO guideline follows multiple reports and studies that show how unscientific disposal of unused or unexpired drugs is causing environmental pollution, eventually affecting human life.
A study by led by Dr T Velpandian of AIIMS' ocular pharmacology division that analysed water samples from seven places in Yamuna river, including the entry and exit points, 35 bore wells in Delhi NCR and the water percolating from waste at Ghazipur landfill site in 2018 showed drugs thrown in the waste bins end up in the environment and contribute to the emergence of multi-drug resistant pathogens .
The study showed presence of antibiotics and other drugs in the surface water of river Yamuna and in areas adjacent to the Ghazipur landfill. “The govt move to formulate a guideline on disposal of unused or expired drugs is commendable. We also plan to develop a pamphlet on how to dispose of drugs that will be given to all patients” said Devarat Majumdar, director and chief of pharmacy at Max healthcare.
You may also like
Medical negligence: Doctors operate on Tamil Nadu man's healthy left knee
This Morning's Vanessa Feltz makes sad admission after split from partner
Perishers - 8th July 2025
Remove washing machine mould for good in 10 minutes with 1 natural item cleaner swears by
Children going without heating or washing in 'Dickensian levels of poverty'
