Published Paper Details:

India faces continuous environmental and health oriented concerns from expired, unwanted or unused drugs. It remains as a persistent issue with no proper studies carried to evaluate expired drugs and to the managerial repercussions, therefore, are not hitherto known fully. There are numerous loopholes within the laws governing the expiry of drug. The municipal corporations handling the waste have not been sensitized to it. There is a grave necessitation for the expired/ unused medicines to be managed in a much more effective manner, as the drugs could pose accumulation of potentially toxic substances in the environment. In India, there is currently limited literature on the methods and protocols that are applied by community pharmacists in the disposal of expired drugs. This study assessed disposal practices of expired and unused medications by pharmacists which was determined via carrying a cross-sectional survey, conducted via face-to-face interviews using pre-validated and structured questionnaire. The returned questionnaires were subjected to statistical analysis using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23.From the observed findings it was concluded from the questionnaires were returned showcasing response rate of 100% with majority of the respondents were male compared to female in participation. Over half of the respondents� educational qualification reported as graduates. Interestingly, 84.4% of respondents admitted that they purchased medicines on the prescription of which 47.2% were university graduates, while 14.6% purchased medicine over the counter.