chemist refused to sell cough syrup!

cazscoob

We use a scheme called emas here we speak to the Chemist with symptoms and they do the prescription and hand it over straight away! it is free for children and saves going to the doctor for teething probs/coughs etc.
I do not understand how they can refuse to serve you as these medicines can be bought in supermarkets and very easily? i hope your LO is ok xx

wornoutmumoftwo

Reminds me of the time I went in for some cough syrup for the boys. The chemist suggested I sign up to a scheme (can't remember the name) whereby I could get some medine for the boys without having to go to the doctor. So I signed up - told them again I needed cough syrup - and then they told me they couldn't sell me any without a prescription.

I ended up with a hayfever concotion that never got used and bought the cough mixture from Mr T's instead.

GlasweJen

The scheme you're talking about is the minor ailment scheme or EMAS, it's only available in Scotland.

Cough syrup for kids, the rules changed last year and there are now no cough bottles for chesty coughs in children under 6. The only dry cough bottles we can give to under 6s are pholcodeine linctus and paediatric simple linctus. The logic was that chesty coughs could be indicative of a chest infection so the child should see a doctor to rule that out in case the cough bottle masks the effect of the infection and the child ends up with pnemonia.

Calcold, medised and piriton are all for over 6s because parents were using them to put their kids to sleep and some kids never woke up again. The exception is that you're allowed to sell piriton to children over 2 if they have chicken pox but we don't do this unless the child is in the pharmacy with visible spots and the pharmacist will do it on EMAS so that the amount of piriton is monitored.

ETA there are bottles for kids that are available off the shelf, tixylix toddler syrup and calcough are 2 brands, they're just glycerol though and soothe the throat rather than relieve the cough so totally useless really.

Dontknowanymore

GlasweJen wrote: »

The scheme you're talking about is the minor ailment scheme or EMAS, it's only available in Scotland.

Cough syrup for kids, the rules changed last year and there are now no cough bottles for chesty coughs in children under 6. The only dry cough bottles we can give to under 6s are pholcodeine linctus and paediatric simple linctus. The logic was that chesty coughs could be indicative of a chest infection so the child should see a doctor to rule that out in case the cough bottle masks the effect of the infection and the child ends up with pnemonia.

Calcold, medised and piriton are all for over 6s because parents were using them to put their kids to sleep and some kids never woke up again. The exception is that you're allowed to sell piriton to children over 2 if they have chicken pox but we don't do this unless the child is in the pharmacy with visible spots and the pharmacist will do it on EMAS so that the amount of piriton is monitored.

ETA there are bottles for kids that are available off the shelf, tixylix toddler syrup and calcough are 2 brands, they're just glycerol though and soothe the throat rather than relieve the cough so totally useless really.

:eek::eek::eek:
That's quite shockig because I used to give it to DS1 when he got colds, it was from age 2 so basically it could of killed him then but not now?????

Savvy_Sue

Curious_George wrote: »

not to mention the prescription charges! what are they now about £8??
for something that should cost you £2 - £3?

I thought prescriptions for under 16s were free, and under 18s if they were still at school?

But I agree with you about not wasting doc's time, although Glaswegan has explained why and it does make sense.

Hot Ribena works quite well too, but cough mix is probably cheaper. :rotfl:

shegirl

alyth wrote: »

As a total aside to this, but along the same lines, I work part time in a shop. I am unable to sell (and I can't remember the name of it) a can of high energy drink, it has lots of italic writing all over it, to under 16s. The laws when it comes to selling things are bizarre, I am allergic to my dog but would never get rid of her, so I take antihistamine tablets, like hayfever tablets. I am unable to buy more than two packs of those at Tescos. When I go to the self-service till it comes up "do you know you are only able to buy two packs of these".

I can sell red bull to under 16s thought - just not this particular can of drink! Or just typing that maybe I should check when I go to work tomorrow whether I can or not!

That would be Relentless I imagine.Fiance loves the stuff!It's amazing what drinking too much of it can do so I guess they are being careful (we're talking damage here rather than just making you feel good!)

GlasweJen

if you stuck to the dosage on the packet and it was for rare occasions your child would have been fine. What was happening was irresponsible parents giving their kids either too much of the medicine or giving it to them every night, some of the literature suggested that some parents were giving their kids combinations of the medicines to keep them asleep longer.

wornoutmumoftwo

Calcold, medised and piriton are all for over 6s because parents were using them to put their kids to sleep and some kids never woke up again.

I never knew this - that's shocking!
My two are 6 & 7 now and I always give them a half dose, especially the little one, when he gets a chesty cough it is either a chest infection or his atshma. He prefers ice cream when his throat is sore, fortunately his chest infections are getting less frequent.

scottishchick27

dianetheartist wrote: »

something that works really well for coughs--and it sounds a bit odd--rub plenty of vick (or any other brand) vapour rub onto the soles of feet and put socks on.Use at bedtime--it really does work-adults and children alike.Dont know how it works but it does.Loads of my friends and family have tryed it and it does work wonders!

I don't know how it works either but I tried this with my DD who is 8 after cough medicine hadn't worked for days and it was so effective that me and OH use this method too.

kingfisherblue

The EMA scheme is also available in parts of England, or at least, something similar is. We call it the Pink Book around here.

Parents have a pink booklet with a list of conditions in it - coughs, nits, athlete's foot, etc. If your child has one of tghese, you just take the Pink Book to the chemist and they look up the appropriate medicine and hand it to you, free of charge. They also note it in your booklet as well as on their system. If the pharmacist is concerned, they advise you to see your GP instead of giving the medication.

Some of the cough medicines were removed from the scheme last year.

The Pink Book is great as it saves so much time - at our doctor's, you can easily wait for up to an hour after your appointment time before you see the GP. I always use the same pharmacy as they know my son's conditions. They can easily check to see if something is unsuitable.