Modern Medicines in Drinking Water

[Guest guest]

Dear Dr.Ishaq Geer,

You have done my job much easier with informative post

and attachment.Thank you very much for taking interest

and active participation.

I will give important points-steps to be followed-in

my evening post.

Dr.Bharat Gajjar.

Moderator.

--- ishaq geer <ishaqgeer@...> wrote:

> Dear Members:

>

> Tomorrow is the last day of this very interesting

> topic of discussion. To sum up some of the aspects

> relating to safe disposal of pharmaceuticals that

> have been left untouched so far, I am attaching

> herewith two important documents. First one is the

> WHO report on " Guidelines for safe disposal of

> unwanted pharmaceuticals " published by WHO Geneva in

> March 1999. The document comprehensively deals with

> almost all aspects on safe disposal of

> pharmaceuticals including various recommended

> disposal methods, consequences of improper disposal,

> sorting categories, expired or unwanted

> pharmaceuticals, disposal of solids, semi-solids,

> powders, liquids, ampoules, anti-infectives,

> controlled substances, anti-neoplastics,

> disinfectants, aerosol canisters etc. Another

> documents pertains to Ministry of Health and Family

> Welfare, Govt. of India that mainly includes a a

> desk review of the existing policy frameworks for

> environmental protection and occupational safety and

> health in food and drug laboratories and covers

> topics like review of national legal and regulatory

> frameworks, environmental impacts, environmental

> impact management and mitigation etc. Hope these

> documents will shed some light on the issues under

> discussion.

>

> In India provisions relating to import, manufacture,

> distribution and sale of drugs and cosmetics are

> regulated through Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and

> Rules thereunder. This Act has not undergone any

> major ammendment since 1985, though minor

> ammendments have taken place from time to time. Rule

> 58-A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 outlines

> procedure for disposal of confiscated drugs and Rule

> 66-A briefly states the procedure for disposal of

> drugs in the event of cancellation of licence,

> however in both these rules details of how to

> actually destroy/dispose the pharmaceuticals is not

> mentioned. Rule 58-A just mentions that the

> destruction shall take place under the supervision

> of the Inspector in the presence of such authority,

> if any, as may be specified by the court and Rule

> 66-A mentions that the licensing authority may grant

> the necessary permission for their disposal. Nowhere

> it is mentioned how to actually dispose the drugs.

> For expired

> drugs, Rule 65 (17) makes a provision for their

> withdrawal, reimbursement or disposal, as the case

> may be, subject to the condition that the same shall

> be stored separately from the trade stocks and all

> such drugs shall be kept in packages or cartons, the

> top of which shall display prominently, the words,

> " Not for Sale " . Again there is no mention of how to

> actually carry out their disposal. Drugs and

> Cosmetics Act badly needs to be ammended to cover

> this issue.

>

> Dr. Geer M. Ishaq

> Sr. Lecturer

> Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences

> University of Kashmir

> Srinagar-190006 (J & K)

> Ph: 9419970971, 9906673100

> E-mail: ishaq@...

> Website: www.geocities.com/pharmsciences/ishaq.html

> http://ishaqgeer.googlepages.com

>

>

>

> Modern Medicines in Drinking Water

>

> Dear Geer,

> Thanks for the eye opener from Kashmir. The

> shopkeepers are known to

> discard the expired medicines in municipal garbage

> dumps.

>

> The statement of the " official " in the news story

> attached by you

> reads : " The official further said that if the drug

> has to be

> destroyed, it has to be done in isolated place and

> the bottles have

> to emptied and subsequently broken to avoid any

> misuse " .I leave it

> to the moderator to comment on this.

>

> Vijay Thawani

> Groupie

>

>

> >

> > Dear Members:

> > I have just joined NETRUM and am still observing

> how it works. I

> find it quite informative and interesting, a

> pleasure indeed.

> Morever the current topic too is quite contemporary

> and thought-

> provoking. In this connection today itself I came

> across a news item

> in a local English Daily here whereunder it has been

> reported that

> expired drugs have been found dumped in large

> quantities on the

> banks of famous river Jhelum here in Habba Kadal

> locality. God only

> knows how many expired and unused drugs are dumped

> daily into water

> bodies across India. I wonder if there are any

> studies at all on the

> subject. The news item is attached herewith.

> >

> > " Expired drugs dumped to kill - SMC, police

> clueless, people

> terrified " [Daily Greater Kashmir dt. April 14,

> 2008]

> >

> > ARSHAD ME’RAJ

> >

> >

> >

> > Srinagar, Apr 13: In a brazen violation of the

> guidelines framed

> to destroy expired medicines, thousands of medicinal

> syrup bottles,

> capsule strips, injection vials and syringes have

> been dumped in

> Habba Kadal area. Locals say that some chemists

> dumped these here

> Saturday night.

> > While the expired syrup bottles and other

> medicines scattered

> along roadside in this densely populated area has

> become a health

> threat, children can be seen playing in the dump for

> hours.

> Inhabitants of the area told Greater Kashmir that

> children take the

> medicines home, adding the piles of medicine was

> emitting pungent

> smell and pedestrian movement was made difficult.

> > The drugs thrown on the roadside in large

> quantities include

> mit’s linctus codeine co, servit drops, seriworm,

> S-R Zyme,

> Panadom, vitamin-D tablets and besides others..

> > “The expired medicines are being picked up by

> scores of rag

> pickers who bundle them in gunny bags and take them

> away,†the

> residents told Greater Kashmir. They said the

> children residing in

> the vicinity have also taken hundreds of these

> medicines home and

> destroyed hundreds of such syrup bottles by throwing

> them against

> the wall. “Some of the children are seen tasting

> these medicines

> and many of them throw the bottles at each other

> while playing,â€

> they further said.

> > The medicine, the inhabitants said, was dumped

> last night by some

> druggists.

> > Unaware as to who and how the druggists ferried

> such a large

> quantity of medicines to the area, the residents

> said that the

> dumping of medicine has become a nuisance for the

> residents.

> > According to an official of the drug controller

> department, it is

> illegal to dump the expired medicine or any other

> drug in

> residential areas. “If a drug gets expired, it is

> imperative for

> the druggist to return it to the concerned

> company,†the official

> said. The official further said that if the drug has

> to be

> destroyed, it has to be done in isolated place and

> the bottles have

> to emptied and subsequently broken to avoid any

> misuse. The official

> said that stringent action should be taken against

> the person

> involved in such an act and his license should be

> cancelled

> forthwith.

> > When contacted, the deputy director drug control

> department,

> Nazir Ahmad Wani, said the department would inquire

> about

=== message truncated ===

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[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

Thank you all for lively discussion.

Let us highlight certain important points:

What Consumers Can Do:

-Dispose of unused or unwanted medications at

take-back sites or events.

-Do NOT dispose of any medication down the toilet or

in the trash.

-Purchase drugs in small amounts, limiting expired

medications.

-Ask for medications with low environmental impact.

-Encourage your provider to take-back unwanted drugs.

-Share the message of safe disposal with family and

friends.

-Commit to wellness strategies to reduce your reliance

on medications.

-Practice healthy product stewardship.

What Pharmacists and Health Providers Can Do:

-Do not prescribe more medications than can be used.

-Review and regularly reassess the patient's total

consumption of medication.

-Consider environmental impact when prescribing

medications.

-Learn more about which drugs have large environmental

impacts.

-Educate consumers about the importance of proper

disposal of pharmaceutical waste.

Dr.Bharat Gajjar,

Moderator.

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[Guest guest]

Dear Vijay,

Thank you for your kind words.

Our members have shown tremendous interest in

this,otherwise dry topic.

I thank them all-especially Rajendra

Diwe,Anupama,Kunda Madam,Tariqe,Ishaqe

Geer,Santosh,Smita.

Dr.Bharat Gajjar,

Moderator.

--- Vijay <drvijaythawani@...> wrote:

> Hi NetRUMians,

> I am very happy to share my joy with you that our

> member Rajendra Diwe

> who is also a journalist, has accepted the challenge

> to lead the

> advocacy through print medium on this topic. May we

> see more NetRUMians

> using the media for awakening the masses on this

> subject? If you can

> use your contact with journalists and get the

> article published in your

> city dailies, ask Rajendra to share the draft story

> with you.

> Well done dear moderator Dr Bharat Gajjar.

> Swami Vivekanand said- Arise, awake and stop not

> till the goal is

> reached.

> Cheers.

> Vijay

> Groupie

>

>

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[Guest guest]

Hi,In journalism "news" has many definitions. One is - what is new makes news. The oft quoted example is - dog biting man is nothing new but man biting dog is news.

"From gut to gutter" is well known. This discussion related to the reverse - "from gutter to gut".(Rajendra: did I give you a crisp and catchy HL for your article?)

Yes I am impressed with the performance of our members but the commander also gets the credits along with the fighting forces. Hence well done Bharat and Rajendra,Anupama,Kunda,Tariqe,Ishaqe,Geer,Santosh,Smita.

May we continue to have the pleasure of many such lively discussions!

VijayProud to be the Groupie> > > Hi NetRUMians,> > I am very happy to share my joy with you that our> > member Rajendra Diwe > > who is also a journalist, has accepted the challenge> > to lead the > > advocacy through print medium on this topic. May we> > see more NetRUMians > > using the media for awakening the masses on this> > subject? If you can > > use your contact with journalists and get the> > article published in your > > city dailies, ask Rajendra to share the draft story> > with you.> > Well done dear moderator Dr Bharat Gajjar.> > Swami Vivekanand said- Arise, awake and stop not> > till the goal is > > reached.> > Cheers.> > Vijay> > Groupie> > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________> Be a better friend, newshound, and > know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile./;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ>