Addiction warning over codeine

PROLONGED use of over-the-counter medical products which contain codeine may cause addiction, the Irish Medicine Board (IMB) has warned.

Yesterday, the IMB said it had instructed companies producing over-the-counter codeine-containing medicinal products to amend the product information leaflets to state that there is a possibility of physical and psychological dependence associated with prolonged use of these products.

It is expected that all products will carry these updated warnings before the end of the year.

The more popular codeine-containing products include Nurofen Plus and Solpadeine.

The IMB said these products are beneficial for the treatment of short-term pain and is taking this action to avoid patients using these products on a long-term basis.

The IMB advises that these products should not be used for longer than a three-day period.

According to the IMB, reports of codeine abuse in Ireland appear to have mainly arisen in the context of multi-substance drug abuse, with a very small number of isolated cases of codeine abuse reported compared to the volume of sales for these products.

Since 1980, the IMB has received a total of 10 reports of dependence in association with codeine-containing products, all of which arose with prolonged use.