Up to 1.7 billion euros of unused medicines each year
By The New Obs with AFP
In 2023, 8,503 tonnes of medicines were not consumed, according to an assessment by the Court of Auditors. ISABELLE SOURIMENT / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
Medicines prescribed in the community but not consumed represent between 561 million and 1.7 billion euros each year in France, according to an assessment by the Court of Auditors published this Thursday, September 4, which calls for the identification of the most discarded products and the reasons for this waste.
To date, "the methods of collecting and processing unused medicines do not allow us to know precisely the amounts and nature of expenditure on medicines which could have been avoided" , underlines the Court of Auditors.
Its cost assessment was carried out based on the quantities of unused medicines collected by the Cyclamed organization responsible for their recovery.
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The bill reaches up to 1.7 billion euros if the calculation takes into account all medicines, but it falls to around 561 to 788 million euros if the most expensive ones are excluded, the Court of Auditors explains.
8,503 tonnes in one yearThe volume of medicines discarded and collected by Cyclamed represented 8,503 tonnes in 2023.
The potential for reducing this waste can be estimated at between 224 million and 867 million euros, according to the investigation conducted by the Court of Auditors.
It is "essential that public authorities improve their knowledge of the use of health products, prescribed, dispensed and reimbursed, and understand why some of them are not used," writes the public finance monitoring body.
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