Doctor explains dangers of pholcodine as cough…

Doctor explains dangers of pholcodine as cough medicines taken off shelves

Many cough medicines are disappearing off shelves over a safety concern.

Dr Hilary and Dr Layla Hannbeck, from the association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies were on Good Morning Britain talking all things health with hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls. One of the biggest headlines today was that 20 brands of cough medicines had been taken off the shelves over concerns for ingredient pholcodine.

The ingredient has been proven to sometimes cause a life-threatening reaction if you have it with general anaesthetic. This means that if you take the medicine and then go for an operation then you could be endangering yourself.

Dr Layla said that they received an alert yesterday, on March 14, and were asked to immediately act on it. She added that the ingredient is in "quite a few" medicines so it was a "big operation" for pharmacists.

What is the risk with medicines containing pholcodine

Susanna said that the products are very common, as an image flashed up showing Covonia cough syrup, Day Nurse and three other types of medicines for coughs. She asked: "What is the reason that we can no longer purchase them?"

Dr Hilary said: "The reason that they are being pulled is the slight risk of anaphylaxis if you have a general anaesthetic using muscle relaxants within a year after taking pholcodine. Now, pholcodine has been around for 70 years. It's a very common ingredient and I have to say that this is a precaution.

"The risk of this allergic reaction is very very small. However, safety is paramount and that's why the medicine and health care products regulatory agency have decided to withdraw these things from the shelves."