the problem of rising healthcare costs is driving more and more US states to encourage programs that promote the "recycling" of unused medicines among the poorest segments of the population. underlines the weekly Newsweek with an investigation. According to data provided by the National Conference of State legislatures, 33 states have implemented similar programs: some accept donations of drugs (in unopened packages, of course) also from private citizens, others instead only from institutions, hospitals and outpatient clinics. Which drug classes are affected? Especially antibiotics, antipsychotics, statins and antidepressants. "There are millions and millions of dollars of unused drugs that go to waste and end up destroyed," said Linda Johnston, director of social services for the Tulsa, Oklahoma, county government. and the savings for the health service do not lie only in the failure to purchase drugs that are "recycled": in a country where tens of millions of people no longer have insurance coverage - and among them there are many chronically ill people - the availability of drugs guarantees compliance and therapeutic coverage, effectively avoiding a percentage of hospitalizations and slowing down or stopping the pathological progression.
Pharmacy News of 08/19/2008 N. 7 – JULY 2008 p. 4
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