The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7319 p466
2 October 2004

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· Personal control
· Cholesterol testing
· Charitable donations
· Returned medicines
· Dispensing
· The profession
· The Society
· The Charter
· Retention fee

Letters to the Editor

Charitable donations

Not ideal, but hopelessly inadequate

From Professor J. Wingfield, FRPharmS, and Dr G. Crumplin

The letter from Jonathan Buisson and Chris Street (PJ, 25 September, p417) indicates that we have not adequately made our point. Far from suggesting that developing countries should be recipients of our rejects, we are merely highlighting an inconsistency in the justification used for the blanket rejection of reissued medicines (that is the term used on pp30–31 of “A spoonful of sugar”), from whatever source, with whatever provenance, for everyone except NHS patients admitted to hospital. If such an exception can be made — subject no doubt to rigorous overview by pharmacy staff — we suggest there is scope at least to consider (and pilot), as they are in the US, the redeployment of medicines in other circumstances.

For example, because of current policy annually many millions of pounds worth of redundant medicines, never issued to patients, are destroyed by manufacturers, wholesalers and large retail groups. We have all seen returned medicines, clearly untouched, pristine and well in date, being returned from patients’ homes or care homes. Of course, charitable donation is not ideal but the existing levels (more than £1bn a year) are hopelessly inadequate to match the clinical needs of developing countries. We merely suggest that there is room for debate and review of the status quo.

Joy Wingfield
Professor of Pharmacy Law and Ethics
University of Nottingham

Geoff Crumplin
Independent Consultant to a Medical Charity

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