UK: Nurofen addict cost drug company £2.4m

[size=+1]Nurofen addict cost drug company £2.4m[/size]
A codeine addict caused a national recall of Nurofen that cost a drugs company £2.4million after he swapped packets of the painkiller for ones containing antipsychotic drugs, a court heard.

Christopher McGuire, 31, was behind a major scare last year after he inserted strips of the prescription drug Seroquel into £7 packets of Nurofen Plus at three Boots stores and an independent pharmacy.

Two men mistakenly “overdosed” on the 50mg Seroquel tablets, which are used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and mania. It led to the manufacturer of Nurofen, Reckitt Benckiser, ordering a nationwide recall of products that resulted in a £2.4million loss, Southwark Crown Court in London was told.

Yesterday, McGuire, a penniless drifter from Glasgow, appeared in court after admitting causing a public nuisance.

The court heard that he had filled empty packets of Nurofen Plus 32 — a combination of codeine and ibuprofen — with his prescription drugs, before going to chemists and switching them with genuine packets of the over-the-counter painkiller.

He would go to the counter and attempt to pay for the “dummy” packet using a card that he knew would be rejected, before walking out of the store with the genuine packet in his pocket. The pharmacist would then return the packet containing Seroquel to the shelf.


Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...40/Nurofen-addict-cost-drug-company-2.4m.html

oh jesus

Why the fuck would you rather have CODEINE than Seroquel

Codeine is an opiate. Seroquel is not, nor does it have any recreational effects. Codeine is over the counter in UK. This person wanted large amounts of codeine, and didn't want to pay for it. I guess he wanted codeine so he could get an opiate high after doing a CWE on the tablets, but I am not entirely sure of this. Since he had access to Seroquel, he swapped the used package with his unwanted Seroquel and there you have it. That's why the fuck he would rather codeine than Seroquel. Who wouldn't?

Yea seroquel is a nasty drug. Most rehabs and the like will only give stuff like that or trazadone if you cant sleep or are experiencing WD symptoms. in my experience they almost make you take it, and once you have had a double dose you can see why, its like having your brain in a straight jacket plus it makes for a docile patient. Im not sure if its a long half life or what, but the first time i took it i was in rehab and they gave me a double dose and twelve hours later when i woke up i felt like shit the entire day, no energy, cloudy haze.

That's pretty common, I can't take seroquel because I feel worse after waking up than I would have if I hadn't slept at all.

There's fuck all codeine in one of those packs anyway, the pills are 8/500 with paracetamol. What's more, I've never been to a pharmacy where codeine-containing products weren't OTC. Still, in answer to the question "why would a penniless drifter with a prescription for psychiatric medication do this?"- possibly because he was mentally ill.

Nurofen Plus actually has 12.8mg of codeine mixed with ibuprofen. 30 X 12.8 = 384mg of codeine, more than enough for people without a tolerance to get high.

Why didn't he just swipe them instead of replacing them with someone which will only help him get busted?

opi8 said:

Codeine is an opiate. Seroquel is not, nor does it have any recreational effects. Codeine is over the counter in UK. This person wanted large amounts of codeine, and didn't want to pay for it. I guess he wanted codeine so he could get an opiate high after doing a CWE on the tablets, but I am not entirely sure of this. Since he had access to Seroquel, he swapped the used package with his unwanted Seroquel and there you have it. That's why the fuck he would rather codeine than Seroquel. Who wouldn't?

Click to expand...

At least you can sell Seroquel... why not just replace it with Tylenol or something?


Even 400mgs of codeine is still just like 2 doses for myself.. and I have no tolerance.

Why would he put seroquel back in the packets? That's just retarded. This reminds me of the time when some lunatic put something into Tylenol capsules that killed a few people. This is what led to Tylenol changing the way the pills where made. Of course this is much less serious but still someone could have been killed if they where unlucky.

Codeine is always sold behind the counter here. You have to ask the pharmacist for the product so you can exactly tamper with them. I find that it's good for stuff like headaches and withdrawal from stronger opiates but other then that it's not that fun. This guy has way more wrong with him then just being addicted to a mild opiate