Waste of drugs, insurance company says

According to the health insurance arm of one major insurance provider, a massive amount of drugs are wasted every year.

Norwich Union Healthcare conducted the Health of the Nation report in which they surveyed 1,000 GPs . Their findings indicate that two in every five patients fail to take their medication as prescribed, leading to a monster waste of drugs, as much as 20p per pound - £2billion per year.

According to GPs, the biggest culprits are those aged 13-29, closely followed by those 76 and above. As well as the enormous waste of drugs, GPs believe that not taking prescribed courses can contribute to long-term sickness and also increase burden on NHS.

GPs called for better patient education amongst health care professionals.