Cold and cough remedies withdrawn from UK

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Amity Island

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A total of twenty products are being withdrawn, including those made by Day & Night Nurse and Covonia — as well as own-brand versions sold in Boots and Superdrug.

Medical regulators have withdrawn the medicines from the UK market 'as a precaution following a review', it emerged today.

Evidence was found that pholcodine, which is found in cough syrups, could in rare cases cause an allergic reaction if the user undergoes surgery and needs a general anaesthetic which involves the use of a muscle relaxant.


www.dailymail.co.uk

Cold and flu remedies are WITHDRAWN from UK market over health fears​

Products being withdrawn include ones made by Day & Night Nurse and Covonia. The MHRA, which polices the safety of drugs used in Britain, was behind the review.
www.dailymail.co.uk
www.dailymail.co.uk
 
Pholcodine is a derivative from codeine, which itself is a derivative of heroin. Heroin is remarkably effective as a dry cough suppressant, as is codeine. It is widely used in terminal illness if a dry cough is causing discomfort.

This ban on cough remedies is ludicrous. For a start, if you have a persistent cough, I doubt that any anaesthetist would proceed with an operation. And if you have taken pholcodine more than a couple of days earlier, it would be have been peed out of your body well before any anaesthetic.
 
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mikeyB said:
Pholcodine is a derivative from codeine, which itself is a derivative of heroin. Heroin is remarkably effective as a dry cough suppressant, as is codeine. It is widely used in terminal illness if a dry cough is causing discomfort.

This ban on cough remedies is ludicrous. For a start, if you have a persistent cough, I doubt that any anaesthetist would proceed with an operation. And if you have taken pholcodine more than a couple of days earlier, it would be have been peed out of your body well before any anaesthetic.
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The Gov. safety notice says if you’ve taken it in the last year. Can things cause anaphylactic shock on the 364th day after taking, but not on the 366th? (And what if it’s a leap year?)

Pholcodine-containing cough and cold medicines: withdrawal from UK market as a precautionary measure

Advice for healthcare professionals regarding the withdrawal of pholcodine-containing medicines from the market.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
 
That report from Gambia has nothing to do with Pholcodine, it’s to do with local manufacturers using illegal fillers instead of glycerin.
 
mikeyB said:
That report from Gambia has nothing to do with Pholcodine, it’s to do with local manufacturers using illegal fillers instead of glycerin.
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No, but shows why one would ban something. If there is a risk with anaesthetics, then put a warning on the bottle saying so (though they are claiming its effects stay in the body for 3 years). Perfectly ok to sell cigs and alcohol though.

Got to be more to this. Is it interacting with something else? Immediately taken off shelves, why now after 70 years?

Is there a financial incentive? withdraw, then put them on a more costly prescription only?

mhra confirmed recently they are no longer controlling drugs but are now enablers along with their pharmaceutical companies.
 
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