Medication reuse programs: a narrative review of the literature

A proportion of returned medications may potentially meet quality standards to be reused safely. In Australia, there is no regulatory guidance available to facilitate such medication reuse. This narrative review aimed to identify and review international literature describing medication reuse programs to provide insight into their implementation and potential barriers. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) -based guidelines, a literature search was conducted in Medline, Scopus, and Embase using key words such as ‘medication’ and ‘reuse’ to identify relevant articles. Two reviewers ascertained eligibility for inclusion. Inclusion criteria included English language and publication after 2010. From the articles selected, identified international medication reuse programs and relevant regulatory aspects were summarized. Details, both regulatory and operational, for the specific medication reuse programs, described in the selected articles was further explored via a grey literature search. Of the 1973 identified articles, 84 were assessed for eligibility and 17 were included in this review. Of these, 14 described scenarios where medication reuse is prohibited, 2 studies described programs allowing the reuse of medication and 1 study did not discuss whether reuse was prohibited or not. From these primary articles, secondary citations were identified, with eight from gray literature. Barriers to medication reuse included exposure to environmental extremes during storage, physical appearance, evidence of tampering, safety, and efficacy concerns for the returned medication. Programs that exist globally have overcome these barriers. Several programs that provide safe and effective reuse of medications were i© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site–for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.dentified and described. The findings described in this review should be used to inform frameworks for legislative, regulatory, and professional practice change for medication reuse. Measures implemented in the UK’s pandemic response to safely reuse medications in the nursing home and hospice settings and European medication donation programs should be further investigated. The concept of medication reuse is not novel and should be considered for the Australian setting.