FREQUENCY AND REASON FOR DRUGS RETURNED BACK TO PHARMACY

Despite the veritable drug explosion since the 1950s, a large number of drugs is being dispensed with a significant amount of returned drugs. Little is known of the specific details of such returns. These could be contributing as a subset of wasted medications.Indigenously prepared case records form conserning details of drugs returned was prepared and administered to the drug sales persons at various local pharmacies, after a short briefing session. This study indication that returned medicines were only a subset of the unused medications. The relevant reasons included death of the patient, wrong medication, change in medication, similar looking or sounding drugs. Key words: Returned drugs, expired drugs, similar sounding/looking drugs, drug utilization, drug policy making, discarded drug disposal