Harvard Medical School has reported that more care has to be taken while disposing unused and expired medicines. Harvard advices public to start disposing old medicines as old medicines looses its pharmacological action overtime. Proper disposal of old medicines has to be done as disposing them in toilets or dust bins can lead to development of antibiotic resistance in environmental microorganisms leading to new drug resistance organisms.
Moreover, there are chances that these drugs disposed in environment can lead to killing of probiotic and beneficial bacteria present in the environment. Harvard advices to gift unused good drugs to charity and expired drugs should be disposed in a water proof sealed envelopes and disposed in bag used for disposal of hazardous wastes. Researchers feel that proper disposal of drugs are required for maintaining the biotic environment.
