There is a lack of knowledge on how to dispose expired, unwanted, and unused medications among our participant population. A policy for drug donation needs to be included in routine patient education as well as educational and collective programs for the public. Our findings suggest that there is an immediate requirement for the establishment of collaborative and uniform guidelines for the safe disposal of leftover medications. More than 80% of the respondents never received any information or advice from healthcare providers about safe and proper disposal of medications.

The study revealed that 73% of the respondents throw the medications in the trash, 14% return the medications to a pharmacy, 5% never dispose them, and 3% donate the medications to a friend or charity centers. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from various outpatient pharmaceutical services in King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC), Jeddah. This research is a cross-sectional study. This study aims to assess patients’ knowledge and attitude regarding the disposal of medications. There is a lack of uniform and nationwide guidance on how patients should safely dispose their leftover medications.

Safe disposal of medications is of high concern as malpractice may lead to harmful consequences such as undesirable effects, prescription drug abuse, overstocking, self-medication, accidental overdose, and even death.

K and n disposal