In Spain, it’s completely normal. If you have half a box of antibiotics left over, you give them to a relative. If you have medicines you no longer take, you offer them up in the neighbourhood WhatsApp group. It’s so common that you don’t even consider that it might be a problem.
In Switzerland, it is illegal. The law prohibits passing on prescription medicines to third parties, even if it is free of charge, even if you paid for them yourself, and even if you have them safely stored at home. Only authorised establishments – essentially pharmacies and doctors – are permitted to dispense them.
This week, Watson.ch published a report on Telegram groups in major Swiss cities where people are offering all sorts of things: furniture, clothes, food. And medicines, too. In the Zurich group, which has 35,000 members, someone offered Roche’s anti-cancer medicines worth 5,000 francs. The canton’s Health Department intervened. The authorities can confiscate the medicines and, if they deem it necessary, refer the matter to the public prosecutor.
It makes sense if you think about it for a moment: prescription medicines are dosed specifically for you, taking into account your weight, your diagnosis and any other treatments you are taking. A cancer drug that works for you may be dangerous for someone else with a different medical condition. And without cold-chain control or authenticity checks, the risk only increases.
If you have any spare medicines, you should return them to the chemist’s or your doctor. Don’t throw them in the bin or down the toilet. The chemist’s will take them back without any problem. It’s one of those little details that’s regulated down to the last detail in Switzerland, and which many people only realise too late.