Wasted medicine in England could fill 75 swimming pools a year, pharmacy group says

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/08/wasted-medicine-in-england-could-fill-75-swimming-pools-a-year-pharmacy-group-says

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/69314340

Industry body calls for greater scrutiny of patients with multiple repeat prescriptions to tackle ‘growing problem’

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/08/wasted-medicine-in-england-could-fill-75-swimming-pools-a-year-pharmacy-group-says


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9 points · 5 comments · view on lemmy.world

5 Comments

kibblebits@quokk.au · 8 pts · 22d (2 replies)

I feel comparing it to swimming pools might not be the right metric. The don’t get medicine from a pool and I don’t measure things in pools. Also, how big are these pools and do I even have a sense of the size of that?

No, pools are a bad choice.

threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 21d (1 reply)

Even beyond that, I feel like the decision to measure wasted medicine by volume is also questionable. Surely "mass" or "doses" would be more meaningful?

kibblebits@quokk.au · 2 pts · 20d

Doses. That’s a good metric I think most people could understand.

tjsauce@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 22d

Metric swimming pools?

DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 22d

Just like everything else we produce first for profit.