UK Doctors Call for Addiction Warning on OTC Medicines

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> JustSayNo

> Fri, 16 Jul 2004 22:22:44 -0400

> [sSRI-Research] UK Doctors Call for

> Addiction Warning on OTC Medicines

>

>

> UK Doctors Call for Addiction Warning on OTC

> Medicines

> 6/30/2004

>

> Physicians in the United Kingdom are urging the

> government to require addiction warnings on

> over-the-counter drugs, including painkillers and

> cough medicines, The Scotsman reported June 27.

>

> " Many of us don't realize that a lot of the

> medicines available over the counter have

> ingredients which can be highly addictive.

> Painkillers will contain codeine and cough mixture

> is known as a problem, " said Jonathan Beavers, an

> Edinburgh University medical student.

>

> About 30,000 people in the United Kingdom are

> addicted to over-the-counter medicines.

>

> The British Medical Association (BMA) supports the

> call for warning labels. David Grieve, the director

> of Over-Count, a charity that helps people addicted

> to over-the-counter medicines, also favors warning

> labels.

>

> " People are entitled to know that these remedies can

> cause problems, " he said. Grieve dismissed

> suggestions that the warnings could encourage people

> who want to get high to abuse over-the-counter

> medicines.

>

> But Vicky Wyatt, a spokeswoman for the U.K.

> Department of Health, said current legislation is

> adequate. " Products available over the counter which

> contain a low dose of potentially addictive

> substances are safe and effective when taken at the

> recommended dose, " she said.

>

> Manufacturers of over-the-counter medicines are also

> opposed to the warnings. " It's a tiny percentage of

> people who actually suffer, and they often have

> other problems which trained health professionals

> could help them with. We believe that warnings on a

> packet alone have little impact, " said a spokeswoman

> from The Proprietary Association of Great Britain

> (PAGB), which represents the manufacturers of

> over-the-counter medicines.

>

>

>

>

> This article is online at

> http://www.jointogether.org/y/0,2521,572391,00.html

>

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