title: Wastage of pharmaceuticals.
abstract: Wastage of pharmaceuticals was studied for three months at a 520-bed hospital in Suffolk. Drugs worth 1104 pounds were brought to the pharmacy for destruction. Only 40 pounds worth could be put back into stock. It is suggested that the use of blister-packing together with conservative prescribing, supply, and suitable storage of medicines could lead to important savings of drugs discarded each year in English hospitals, which from this study were estimated to cost in excess of 1 million pounds.
mesh_terms: D004349:Drug Packaging; D004356:Drug Storage; D004363:Drug Utilization; D004469:Economics, Hospital; D004739:England; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000600:supply & distribution; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations