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The Role of PharmEcovigilance in Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Pharmaceuticals
Citation:
RUHOY, I. S. AND C. G. DAUGHTON. The Role of PharmEcovigilance in Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Pharmaceuticals. Presented at GreenPharma Summit: Achieving Efficiency Gains and Cost Savings through Environmental Initiative Implementation Institute for International Research, Philadelphia, PA, July 20 - 21, 2009.
Impact/Purpose:
Slide Presentation
Description:
The prescribing and usage of medications have ramifications extending far beyond conventional medical care. The pharmaceutical and healthcare industries have an environmental footprint because the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can enter the environment as contaminants by a variety of routes, primarily from excretion, bathing, and disposal. Disposal of unwanted, leftover medications by flushing into sewers has been considered a secondary route - - one that supposedly does not contribute substantially to overall environmental loadings of APIs. This presentation is an examination of secondary routes of API release to the environment and for direct but unintentional human exposure. These routes include: (a) bathing, washing, and laundering, and (b) disposal of unused and partially used high-content medical devices. Understanding these secondary routes is important from the perspective of pollution prevention, as well as for reducing the incidence of unintentional and purposeful poisonings of humans and pets, and for improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of healthcare. A broad spectrum of actions can be taken by the pharmaceutical and healthcare communities at large to reduce the release and introduction of medication ingredients to the environment. Discussion will include examples of strategies and programs employed by other countries to test and assess pharmaceutical compounds in order to ensure that once in use or released into the environment, they pose no hazard to people or wildlife. Most significantly, however, nearly any action taken to reduce their introduction to the environment can also have collateral benefits regarding the cost and quality of healthcare and therapeutic outcomes. Existing pharmacovigilance monitoring programs designed to detect and prevent adverse drug reactions could be expanded to also focus on the adverse impacts from drugs in the environment. Such a program has been termed pharmEcovigilance (doi: 10.2165/0002018-200831120-00004). A major reason for the pharmaceutical industry to implement a pharmEcovigilance program - - beyond reducing its environmental footprint - - could be the previously unforeseen benefits in optimizing the delivery, effectiveness, and cost of healthcare.
URLs/Downloads:
The Role of PharmEcovigilance in Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Pharmaceuticals
DAUGHTON 09-027 SLIDE PRESENTATION GREEN PHARMA SUMMIT (7APR09).PDF (PDF, NA pp, 2348 KB, about PDF)