TripppAR
Bluelighter
Oh no...our worst fears have ben realised. Well not QUITE yet...
AUSTRALIA's peak pharmacy body has condemned calls to prevent a common headache tablet from being sold over the counter, saying it would cost the nation millions of dollars and inconvenience thousands of patients.
Nurofen Plus, the biggest selling strong painkiller on the market, is being blamed for a spate of hospital admissions where codeine addicts have taken up to 24 tablets a day, not realising the medication's other active ingredient, ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, can cause ulcers in the stomach and duodenum.
A recent study found that after three months of regular use, up to 20 per cent of people developed ulcers in the stomach and 10 per cent developed ulcers in the duodenum. Bleeding, perforation or obstruction of the intestines occurred in about 4 per cent of patients who took the medication for a year.
The national president of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Kos Sclavos, said yesterday making Nurofen Plus a prescription-only medication would affect thousands of legitimate patients who had no intention of abusing the drug.
"We work closely with the police and health groups to monitor medication abuse and there has not been a spike in the number of people abusing Nurofen Plus lately, nor have we had any complaints about any pharmacists doing the wrong thing," Mr Sclavos said.
"It would not be sensible for people who require stronger analgesia to go a doctor and have their Medicare card swiped every time they had a toothache, not to mention what that would cost the health system."
But a professor of pharmacy at the University of Tasmania, Greg Peterson, said Nurofen Plus, which contains 200 milligrams of ibuprofen and 12.8 milligrams of codeine and is thought to be used by about half of Australians, should not be available over the counter because it had the propensity to cause major damage or death if misused. "Ibuprofen is fine if used in low doses, but about 20 per cent of people should not take Nurofen or Nurofen Plus at all because they have a history of heart disease, stomach problems, asthma, are pregnant or elderly, so these drugs need to be prescribed by doctors who can take a detailed medical history," Professor Peterson said.
"Unfortunately, ibuprofen is heavily promoted and very popular. It poses a real risk and the only solution, and it isn't fail-safe, is that Nurofen Plus is available only on prescription."
In this week's Medical Journal of Australia, Martin Dutch, of Melbourne's Angliss Hospital, wrote that misuse of Nurofen Plus was a "significant" problem, outlining two cases of patients with perforated ulcers from consuming up to a packet a day.
"Misuse of these medications appears to be an emerging cause of significant morbidity in patients with codeine addiction," Dr Dutch said.
A British woman, Linda Docherty, 49, died in March last year after taking up to 64 Nurofen Plus tablets a day for two years.
SMH -
Well i personally think its a bit shitty if that happens..
Not only from an "abusers" point of view but it doesn't make sense to make this prescription only, as it would cause so many hassles and doctors lines are already long enough!!
Thoughts?
AUSTRALIA's peak pharmacy body has condemned calls to prevent a common headache tablet from being sold over the counter, saying it would cost the nation millions of dollars and inconvenience thousands of patients.
Nurofen Plus, the biggest selling strong painkiller on the market, is being blamed for a spate of hospital admissions where codeine addicts have taken up to 24 tablets a day, not realising the medication's other active ingredient, ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, can cause ulcers in the stomach and duodenum.
A recent study found that after three months of regular use, up to 20 per cent of people developed ulcers in the stomach and 10 per cent developed ulcers in the duodenum. Bleeding, perforation or obstruction of the intestines occurred in about 4 per cent of patients who took the medication for a year.
The national president of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Kos Sclavos, said yesterday making Nurofen Plus a prescription-only medication would affect thousands of legitimate patients who had no intention of abusing the drug.
"We work closely with the police and health groups to monitor medication abuse and there has not been a spike in the number of people abusing Nurofen Plus lately, nor have we had any complaints about any pharmacists doing the wrong thing," Mr Sclavos said.
"It would not be sensible for people who require stronger analgesia to go a doctor and have their Medicare card swiped every time they had a toothache, not to mention what that would cost the health system."
But a professor of pharmacy at the University of Tasmania, Greg Peterson, said Nurofen Plus, which contains 200 milligrams of ibuprofen and 12.8 milligrams of codeine and is thought to be used by about half of Australians, should not be available over the counter because it had the propensity to cause major damage or death if misused. "Ibuprofen is fine if used in low doses, but about 20 per cent of people should not take Nurofen or Nurofen Plus at all because they have a history of heart disease, stomach problems, asthma, are pregnant or elderly, so these drugs need to be prescribed by doctors who can take a detailed medical history," Professor Peterson said.
"Unfortunately, ibuprofen is heavily promoted and very popular. It poses a real risk and the only solution, and it isn't fail-safe, is that Nurofen Plus is available only on prescription."
In this week's Medical Journal of Australia, Martin Dutch, of Melbourne's Angliss Hospital, wrote that misuse of Nurofen Plus was a "significant" problem, outlining two cases of patients with perforated ulcers from consuming up to a packet a day.
"Misuse of these medications appears to be an emerging cause of significant morbidity in patients with codeine addiction," Dr Dutch said.
A British woman, Linda Docherty, 49, died in March last year after taking up to 64 Nurofen Plus tablets a day for two years.
SMH -
Well i personally think its a bit shitty if that happens..
Not only from an "abusers" point of view but it doesn't make sense to make this prescription only, as it would cause so many hassles and doctors lines are already long enough!!
Thoughts?
).
