Every year, billions of dollars in unused medications are discarded by:

• Pharmacies
• Hospitals
• Nursing homes

Often, this is simply due to expiration dates.
One study found that hospitals waste over $800 million in usable drugs annually.
Meanwhile, 1 in 3 Americans skip medications due to cost.

MedSave bridges the gap between surplus medications and communities in need.

It connects:

• Pharmacies with excess or soon-to-expire inventory that can offer steep discounts
• Nonprofits and clinics serving underserved populations:
  • Community health centers
  • Shelters
  • Aid organizations

By reducing waste and improving access to essential medicine, MedSave makes a tangible impact — both environmentally and socially.

• Frontend: React, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Tailwind CSS
• Authentication: Google OAuth
• Address Lookup: Mapbox API
• Backend: Flask with multiple RESTful endpoints
• Database: SQLite (for user, drug, and pharmacy data)
• External API: NDC Directory API (for drug metadata)

Upon visiting MedSave:

• Users log in via Google authentication
• They select one of two roles:
  • Pharmacy
  • Nonprofit

Pharmacy users can:

• List surplus/soon-to-expire medications by entering:
  • NDC code
  • Pharmacy name
  • Location
  • Price
  • Expiration date
• The backend uses the NDC Directory API to autofill:
  • Generic drug name
  • Manufacturer info
• All data is stored in a SQLite database and displayed in the marketplace

Nonprofit users can:

• Search for medications by entering:
  • Drug name
  • Their address
• The backend returns:
  • Listings from the nearest pharmacies selling the drug
  • Prioritized by proximity

As first-time hackathon participants, we faced challenges such as:

• ⚙️ Git and version control mishaps
• 🎨 Frontend styling and layout tweaks
• 🔐 Troubleshooting authentication flow
• 🔄 Keeping backend and frontend in sync

• ✅ Completed and deployed a full-stack web application
• 🔐 Successfully integrated Google OAuth and Mapbox
• 🤝 Collaborated and adapted quickly under time pressure
• 🧠 Gained practical experience with APIs, databases, and user roles

• 📁 Effective use of Git/GitHub for collaboration
• 🐞 Debugging full-stack issues
• 🔒 Best practices for authentication and session management
• 🔁 Frontend-to-backend integration techniques

We plan to expand MedSave’s functionality with:

• 🔍 More advanced filtering (by radius, drug brand, etc.)
• 📬 Alerts for nonprofits when needed medications become available
• 📊 Dashboards with analytics and request tracking
• 🧱 Upgrade to a scalable backend (e.g., PostgreSQL)
• ✅ Verification & incentive systems to promote responsible listings