Drugs must go back to pharmacies

MAY I make two corrections to readers’ letters regarding whether French doctors overprescribe.

Unused drugs should never be “flushed away”. They pollute the drainage and water systems, and should always be returned to pharmacies for destruction.

Some pharmacies used to pass unused drugs to charities. Unfortunately, the French government banned the practice a couple of years ago.

Previously, my wife and I used to help triage drugs surpluses, collected from pharmacies, for use by Médecins Sans Frontières and another charity in the Cameroon.

We regretted that the drug manufacturers could influence the government to stop the charitable use of drugs, still within their dates de péremption, on the spurious grounds that the traceability of sealed packages could not be guaranteed.

TR
Ariège (full name supplied)