Tonnes of unused medicine dumped in HSE scheme

OVERDOSE suicide attempts and accidental poisoning of children are two reasons the Health Service Executive (HSE) is encouraging people to dump unused and out-of-date medicines.

Already three-and-a-half tonnes of unused medicines have been disposed of in the south of the country in 2009 under the HSE DUMP (Dispose of Unused Medicines Properly) campaign, a 67% increase on the 2007 figure.

Louise Creed, a community pharmacist in the HSE South, said the campaign had raised public awareness of how excess medicines in the home can pose a hazard, particularly to children or other vulnerable people.