Over-prescription of medicine a growing problem, pharmacists highlight

SINGAPORE — If you are taking more than five pills, speak to a community pharmacist, as there is a chance you may be overprescribed, pharmacists said at the end of Pharmacy Week 2016.

And they are appealing to the public about the increasing importance of de-prescription, and advising people to reconsider how they medicate, given that more Singaporeans are seeing different doctors as they deal with multiple chronic ailments.

“The perennial problem here is that they see different doctors ... so they may have the same medicine from different doctors, and they may have bags and bags of different medication at home,” said Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore president Ng Hong Yen.

She added that Singapore’s 2,800-odd pharmacists — many of them stationed at personal care chains such as Watsons, Guardian and Unity — are an under-utilised community resource.

“Pharmacists can help to tidy up (and optimise) their medication, and to reduce oversupply and hoarding of medication at home,” she said.

More than 500 participants attended an annual health fair yesterday at Woodlands Civic Centre, organised by the Pharmaceutical Society, together with North West Community Development Council.

They were encouraged to bring their pills, so that the pharmacists present could collate their medication list for their next doctor’s visit, and advise whether any of the pills were redundant.

More than 30 per cent of people aged above 65 take at least one inappropriate medicine, said the Pharmaceutical Society, citing local data.

Fifteen per cent of hospital readmissions are related to medicine use, and the chances increase with the amount of medicine an individual takes.

In fact, some people could be taking medicine to treat side effects from other medicines they are taking, said Mr Anthony Yip, a pharmacist with the National Healthcare Group Pharmacy.

This is of increasing concern, as more pharmacy-only medicine are now available off the shelf, he added.