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Franka bruns
According to reports from Tox Info Suisse, paracetamol poisoning skyrocketed from 561 to 1,188 cases between 2005 and 2018, as Andrea Burden, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at ETH Zurich, reports with colleagues in the journal “Jama Network Open.” They assume there is a connection between increased poisoning and the availability of 1000-milligram tablets.
The pain reliever paracetamol is available in Switzerland without a prescription in 500-milligram tablets. With a prescription, pain patients have been able to stock twice as much pills since 2003. In fact, the latter are now ten times more likely to be over-the-counter than less-dosed tablets.
The tricky thing about the active ingredient: it doesn’t work for all patients and not all pain. “If the drug is ineffective for a person, they might be tempted to increase the dose without consulting a specialist,” Andrea Burden said, according to a statement from the university.
The maximum recommended dose of the really safe drug is 4000 milligrams per day for adults. Swallowing more can lead to severe liver poisoning or even death. With the 1,000-milligram tablets, the maximum daily dose can be exceeded with just a few extra tablets, while the risk of accidental overdose is less with the lower-dose 500-milligram tablets, Burden said.
The ETH professor requires that at least 1000 milligram tablets only be offered in packs with fewer tablets. Precisely because the indications that the drug is not suitable for the relief of chronic pain would be confirmed. Also, doctors should prescribe the 500-milligram tablets to reduce the risk of accidentally exceeding the daily limit.
In 2019, the highest number of serious and fatal poisonings in Switzerland was caused by drugs, poisonous animals and medicines. According to Tox Info Suisse, five of the seven deaths were due to drug intoxication. Of the severe cases, 72 percent were caused by drugs and 14 percent by luxury foods and drugs.
https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.22897
