In response to your article on returning unwanted medicines to pharmacies,1 there is an additional source of wasted medication in nursing homes. These facilities have contracted pharmacies that supply medicines to residents. Most of these pharmacies will not use or pack medicines that they have not dispensed (for economic and protocol reasons). Therefore, when a resident arrives from hospital (new or returning resident) or the community, the medicines they arrive with are incinerated rather than administered to them. Private hospitals in particular dispense medicines in full packs even if a patient is only admitted for one or two days.