Pilot study : unusable medication throw away or return?

The level of public awareness towards medication returned program have been explored. This study focuses on how much the public knowledge on the medication returned program that has many benefits. The study has been done at outpatient pharmacy, Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh. This study required statistics of medications which has been returned. The subject of this study was the visitor who had come to outpatient pharmacy to return their unused medication. From the collection, pharmacist in-charge will distribute unused items according to expiry date and generic name. Any expired items will be separated in a plastic bag for safe disposal by the hospital while the others will be check whether the items is still in good condition to be used again. Before that, these medicines will be recorded in the data collection. The focus of the study was to analyze the quantity of medication returned and causes towards the issue. From July until September 2015, there were 172 items, comprising of 464 items had been collected. All the findings had been tabulated in the Microsoft Excel 2010 to get the result in the table and graph form. Generally, most of them were aware of medication returned program and they have the interest to dispose their unused medication in the right and safe way. This result can be used on how to improve public awareness and knowledge about the right way to dispose unused medication and also the way to reduce the amount of medication returned. Thus, the government might achieve their real objectives by conducting this program.