Pharmaceutical
Disposal (Draft 2)
Based on the article, ‘Pharmaceutical Disposal’, Iburch
(2015), states that disposing of unused medications is a common practice by
many residents and hospitals in New York. Disposal methods like flushing or
throwing into rivers causes water to be polluted. People practice disposal
because there is no law that prevent improper disposal of pharmaceutical drugs.
According to Iburch, studies found trace amounts of pharmaceutical drugs in
drinking water and treatment plants are not equipped to remove pharmaceutical
contaminants which is a problem treating these kind of waste. The writer states
that even though ‘pharmaceutical contaminations’ are found in water, there is
no proven health effects on human. However, he strongly asserts that it is
necessary to promote safe disposal options for the people so that residents and
healthcare facilities will not dispose unused medications improperly. A federal
law is being implemented to provide more options to safe pharmaceutical
disposal. As such, I agree with the article to a certain extent that
pharmaceutical disposal is a crisis problem that needs to be resolve quickly
and also to increase awareness to the public.
The reason why I agree to a certain extent is because
improper disposing of pharmaceutical drugs can be harmful to human and the
environment. The writer states that in the article people either flush or throw
their unused medicines into rivers or lakes. Even though the writer (Iburch) states
that ‘health effects on humans have not been proven yet’ but there are some
medications that are fatal even with small dosage. Based on the article, “Safe
disposal of pharmaceuticals a growing concern”, Burton (2010), he states that
there is an 80% increase in deaths in the U.S from accidental overdose of
narcotics between 1999 and 2005. Improper disposing of pharmaceutical drugs can
be dangerous if not done properly. In contrary to another article by FDA
(2015), some medication can have serious consequences on human health so
medications currently have disposal instructions on how you can dispose your
unused medications. In this situation, Iburch only listed the negative impacts
of pharmaceutical drugs in water on aquatic life.
The article points out on how to safely dispose your unused
medication. The promoting of safe disposal of pharmaceutical drugs is very
important to prevent pollution of water and environment. According to the
article, “Guidelines for Safe Disposal of Unwanted Pharmaceuticals in and after Emergencies”, WHO (1999), public and media must be
inform of safe disposal instructions and the current situation of
pharmaceutical disposal. The people and media are informed about the risk of
disposal of pharmaceuticals and what happens when pharmaceuticals pass their
expiry. These are some pointers the article, WHO, brought up to the media. If
public and media are not inform regarding the disposal, things will get out of
hand and the water that we drink may become too polluted to drink. Furthermore,
“The Secure and Responsible Drug Act was passed into law to encourage voluntary
drug take back programs” and also to improve public awareness of such events. At
least 20 states in the USA now have collection programs for unused medications
which greatly enhance awareness of safe disposal of pharmaceuticals.
In conclusion, Iburch article brought up good pointers on
pharmaceutical disposal and how it can affect the people and environment. He
may not have given detailed information about improper disposal but it was
clear in the article that too much of such disposal will bring harm to us in
the near future. It is important to note that effects cause by improper
disposal of medications may be vague for now but it does not stop us from
knowing the causes it might do to our body if we drink water that are polluted
by medications.
EDITED
(01/10/15) – 468 words without summary
Burton J. Kunik (2010) http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drug-topics/news/modernmedicine/modern-medicine-feature-articles/safe-disposal-pharmaceuticals-growi
World Health Organisation (1999) http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Jwhozip51e/2.9.html
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