The disposal of medicines and the Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy: A motivation for the review of health standards

Authors

  • Giselle Margareth Pilla BLANKENSTEIN Universidade de São Paulo. São Paulo/SP.
  • Arlindo PHILLIP JUNIOR Universidade de São Paulo. São Paulo/SP.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9044.v19i1p50-74

Keywords:

Health Legislation, Health Services, Legal Liability, Legal Norms, Waste.

Abstract

Medicines and emerging organic pollutants are contaminants that carry potential health and environmental risk; preventing direct contact of these products with nature is a great challenge. Legislation can be understood as the main existing tool to mitigate the problem, and in Brazil it can be found in different legal texts. The survey of national legislation and scientific articles dealing with drug disposal was carried out on the Internet. The Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency and National Environment Council norms were the most cited in the surveys and presented articles for disposal in health facilities that are contrary to federal legislation and to research concerning water and soil treatment technologies. In the context of the Brazilian legal system, the National Solid Waste Policy (Law No. 12,305/2010) and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Decree No. 875/1993) limit the regulatory power of the agency and the council. Therefore, resolutions currently regulating drug disposal need to be reviewed and amended to conform to existing technologies and federal legislation.

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Author Biographies

  • Giselle Margareth Pilla BLANKENSTEIN, Universidade de São Paulo. São Paulo/SP.
    PhD student and fellow of the Global Health and Sustainability Program by Faculdade de Saúde Pública da Universidade de São Paulo; Master in Law by Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo.
  • Arlindo PHILLIP JUNIOR, Universidade de São Paulo. São Paulo/SP.
    Lecturer in Politics and Environmental Administration by Universidade de São Paulo (USP); Postdoc in Urban and Regional Studies by Massachussetts Institute of Technology (United States); doctor in Public Health by USP. Professor at USP; Environmental Health Department Chief Officer at Faculdade de Saúde Pública de USP. Member of the Advisory Board of the Interdisciplinary Investigation Center on Climate Change (Incline) of USP.

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Published

2018-07-13

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 1 (2018)

Section

Original Articles

License

The Revista de Direito Sanitário/ Journal of Health Law adopts the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internacional. This license allows to share - "copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially" and adapt - "remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially." Details at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

How to Cite

BLANKENSTEIN, G. M. P., & PHILLIP JUNIOR, A. (2018). The disposal of medicines and the Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy: A motivation for the review of health standards. Journal of Health Law, 19(1), 50-74. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9044.v19i1p50-74