Paracetamol overdose survey was wrong
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Law and Ethics Committee has asked the Society to write to the Postgraduate
Medical Journal drawing its attention to errors in a published survey concerned with paracetamol overdose.
Researchers had visited eight pharmacies and at four of them had been
able to purchase at least 48 paracetamol tablets, which the study claimed
was more than
the “restricted” amount permitted (PJ, 5 August,
p151). However, the study had confused the maximum pack size for pharmacy
sale (32) with the maximum number of tablets or capsules legally allowed
in a single transaction (100). Although some pharmacies had sold more
than 32 tablets, there was no evidence of any sale exceeding 100.
The committee noted at its meeting on 26 September that the main part
of the study had involved interviews with 107 people admitted to hospital
for acute paracetamol overdose. Of these, 106 had obtained paracetamol
tablets from non-pharmacy outlets and the remaining one had purchased
an “excessive” amount (“excessive” being defined
in the study as more than 32 tablets) from a pharmacy.
The committee was reminded that the Code of Ethics requires pharmacists
to act in the best interests of patients and the public and that pharmacists
must therefore use their professional judgement when they receive requests
for large quantities for paracetamol. Although none of the pharmacies
mentioned in the study appeared to have sold more than the legal maximum,
the committee agreed that it would be timely to remind pharmacists of
the legal and professional considerations in selling
multiple packs of paracetamol and recommended publication of a Law and Ethics Bulletin
(PJ, 7 October, p430).
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