Laws regarding sales of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen??

chuckles1066

Fern_Merkin wrote: »

Melacholly has a point, PM on radio4 last night had a report on it linked to the suicides in Wales and efforts to help young people in this frame of mind.

Yet more nanny state unfortunately.

In Antigua I was able to purchase a bottle of 200 aspirins, no questions asked.......but then their Government isn't obsessed with control freakery.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

LittleTinker wrote: »

not according to the assistant there. We had a right laugh at how stupid it was.

How strange. Anywhere can sell 16

ManAtHome

Looks more like "custom and practice" than legal - following link claims you can sell up to 100 in packs of (max) 16 http://www.askcedric.org.uk/businesses.php?busid=230&listid=112&sec=29

moneysaving_pharmacist

razorbladekisses wrote: »

I work in a pharmacy and we are allowed to sell 16 paracetamol if the pharmacist is off the premises/at lunch e.t.c but can sell 32 if the pharmacist is present. If people request anymore than 32 we have to refer the customer to the pharmacist who sometimes sells 2 boxes of 32. Apparently, so I've been told, a pharmacist can if they wanted to sell 3 x 32.

The sale of medicines whilst the pharmacist is off the premises is a tricky situation. Sale of P medicines are not allowed, as they require supervision by the pharmacist. Sale of GSLs does not require supervision by a pharmacist, but does require that the pharmacist is in personal control of the pharmacy. If the pharmacist has gone next door for five minutes to buy some lunch then they would probably still be in personal control, but if they are off the premises for an hour then they are probably not. It is a bit of a stupid situation, but hopefully it will change soon.

There are tables that outline the amounts of paracetamol and aspirin that can legally be sold at any one time (although it may be legal to sell 3x32 paracetamol, it may not be ethical).
http://www.rpsgb.org/pdfs/medsparacettable.pdf
http://www.rpsgb.org/pdfs/medsasptable.pdf

There is not a legal limit on the amount of ibuprofen that can be sold, although I would probably not sell more than 2 weeks worth at a time, as it's only licensed for short term use OTC. I would imagine that supermarkets and other retailers treat ibuprofen the same way as other painkillers so that it does not confuse their staff or customers.

chuckles1066

moneysaving_pharmacist wrote: »

The sale of medicines whilst the pharmacist is off the premises is a tricky situation

Why?

See my earlier post about the purchase of 200 aspirins in Antigua.......I never read stories about mass suicides on that island because of lack of medicine dispensary codes?

Now why might that be?

MarkyMarkD

Frankly, the whole law is a stupid mess IMHO. Typical of knee-jerk legislation introduced with spurious reasons behind it.

LuciferTDark

Sorry melancholy but there is no way that limiting people to buying 2 boxes has had any effect on the number of suicides by paracetamol.

Anyone determined enough to try killing themselves that way will just visit every shop that sells them & buy 2 boxes in each, I know for a fact I can get at least 20 boxes in under an hour in my area & have a dose lethal enough to kill an elephant (probably).

chuckles1066

LuciferTDark wrote: »

Anyone determined enough to try killing themselves that way will just visit every shop that sells them & buy 2 boxes in each, I know for a fact I can get at least 20 boxes in under an hour in my area & have a dose lethal enough to kill an elephant (probably).

Nope.

Single doses above 200mg per kg of bodyweight, consumed over a single 24-hour period, have no more than a reasonable likelihood of causing lasting toxicity to the body.

You need to visit many more chemists to flatten an elephant

LuciferTDark

I was thinking of someone taking every tablet in every box with a liberal splash of falling down water, say a litre or 3 of vodka. Although I suppose you're just as likely to die of alcohol poisoning before the pills have a chance to do any damage. :eek:

weegie.geek

Bad way to try to top yourself anyway, all you'll do is !!!! your liver.