In this article, Sue Frankland looks at the global problem of wastage of medications, including causes such as overprescribing and non-adherence. She also presents information from her master’s dissertation on how people understand, and respond to, medication expiration dates
Sustainability concerns for medicinal plants
Pharmacist and medical herbalist Phil Rasmussen discusses the sustainability of plant-derived medicines, at a time when demand is increasing and the effects of climate change are becoming more apparent
1. Sen T, Samanta SK. Medicinal plants, human health and biodiversity: a broad review. Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol 2015;147:59–110.
2. Zettlemoyer MA, McKenna DD, Lau JA. Species characteristics affect local extinctions. Am J Bot 2019;106(4):547–59.
3. Groner VP, Nicholas O, Mabhaudhi T, et al. Climate change, land cover change, and overharvesting threaten a widely used medicinal plant in South Africa. Ecol Appl 2022;32(4):e2545.
4. Chamberlain, J. NTFPs from trees: slippery elm. Science Update SRS-146. Asheville, NC: US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station; 2021. doi.org/10.2737/SRS-SU-146
5. Rasmussen PL. Honeysuckle and other useful weeds surrounding us. 24 January 2019. herbblurb.com
6. Brinckmann JA, Cunningham AB, Harter DEV. Running out of time to smell the roseroots: Reviewing threats and trade in wild Rhodiola rosea L. J Ethnopharmacol 2021;269:113710.
7. Cunningham AB, Li HL, Luo P, et al. There “ain’t no mountain high enough”?: The drivers, diversity and sustainability of China’s Rhodiola trade. J Ethnopharmacol 2020;252:112379.
8. Union for Ethical Biotrade. Sourcing botanicals with respect for people and biodiversity. October 2022. uebt.org/resource-pages