Drug recommended to help cut drink dependence

[Northerner]

A pill designed to reduce alcohol consumption among problem drinkers looks set to be made available to NHS patients in England and Wales.

Nalmefene should be made available to people who regularly drink high amounts of alcohol, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said.

Costing just over £3 a tablet, it is already prescribed in Scotland.

Final guidance is set to be published next month and NICE says 600,000 people would be eligible for the drug.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29468885

 

[HOBIE]

I know a few who could do with them 😉

 

[KookyCat]

Maybe they should provide them as a gift of purchase with every gastric band. I think it's apalling that we medicate and butcher people before at least giving other options a try. If people drink to excess do they take these pills forever? They need help to develop coping strategies that don't involve alcohol, in the same way that people who overeat need help to change their eating patterns and their relationship with food.

 

[Copepod]

The NICE guidance says that counselling should be provided along with the medication.

 

[Mark T]

The NICE guidance says that counselling should be provided along with the medication.

One of the actresses from Babylon 5, Claudia Christian (aka Ivanova) promotes an alternative method which is apparently more effective then the pill and counselling.

 

[KookyCat]

The NICE guidance says that counselling should be provided along with the medication.

That's great that there's recognition of counselling, but a good number of addiction services are facing serious funding cuts, so the framework to provide counselling isn't really there in many areas. People here are on waiting lists for counselling services that are too long because the funding just isn't adequate. I'm not opposed to medication, I am opposed to shortcuts that put people at risk.