• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.69-79
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• 2013

The purpose of this research is study how housewives dispose unused medications in a household and produce basic research data that can be used to establish efficient recycling and handling of unused medications. Data collection was done using proportional sampling and survey was done in February, 2011. The unused medications in household consist of "tablets(58.4%)", "ointment(31.3%)" and "eyewash(22.7%)". The main way of disposing unused medications was "standard garbage bag(74.1%)". The ideal way of disposing unused medications was "returning to the pharmacy(57.9%)". Only 39.2% of people recognize about unused medications disposal system. In order to establish recycling and treatment of unused medications, it is necessary to create laws and regulations related to unused medications and allocate budget to actively promote the program to public. Most importantly, we must induce doctors and pharmacies to participate in the campaign and there should be laws to require them to explain to their patients how to recycle and treat unused medications when they give prescription and make preparation to them.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.262-267
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• 2014

Unused medication disposal is a burden due to the cost of disposing as well as the cost of the drugs. Investigating medication returns is expected to suggest areas of intervention to reduce unused medications. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine types, quantity, costs, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and therapeutic category of the medications returned to community pharmacies. Method: From January 15, 2014 to February 28, 2014, the medications returned to the 17 community pharmacies in Gimhae, Jinju, and Incheon, Korea were examined. The pharmacists and student volunteers worked cooperatively to identify the medications and analyze drug cost of prescription pill medications returned to the pharmacies. Results: A total of 2,720 pills of prescription medication were analyzed and 91 active pharmaceutical ingredients were identified. According to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification, the most predominant group was A (alimentary tract and metabolism) with 33.3%, followed by N (nervous system) with 15.0%. With regard to the drug cost of groups, group A was the highest with 26.6%, followed by J01 (antibacterials for systemic use) with 20.2% and N (nervous system) with 18.3%. The total cost of the oral pill prescription medications was 468,477 won. Conclusion: The result from this study implies that unused drugs impose a significant cost to the health care system in Korea. In this study, medicines used to treat gastrointestinal conditions were returned most frequently with the highest drug cost. Further research in nationwide level is necessary to establish strategies to reduce the wastage of unused medicines.