Laws regarding sales of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen??

ellay864

As Mr Gekko has said, paracetamol and ibuprofen are 2 totally different drugs and recently after a car accident I was advised that I could maximise my pain relief by alternating paracetamol and ibuprofen. I expect some shops will just put extra precautions in place for selling drugs even though they go above what the law requires. It's comparable to some shops refusing to sell energy drinks like red bull to teenagers though there's no legal reason

angelil

I honestly think it varies; I have had shop assistants mention this to me in the past (I stock up on the 16p packs of painkillers whenever I'm in the UK as they're much more expensive in France where I live!), but on the last occasion I bulk bought painkillers (2 boxes ibuprofen, 2 boxes cold remedies, 2 boxes paracetamol and 2 boxes throat tablets all in one transaction) the lady behind the Boots counter let it go through without a word. Strange!!

TeaCake

Like with previous posters, this is the first result when searching for the law regarding buying paracetamol and ibuprofen.
Ive just come back from a supermarket and was refused two boxes of paracetamol and two ibuprofen because its "against the law" to sell them to me by a checkout assistant when in a previous shop ive checked with a Pharmacist and he said it was fine.
Does anyone know a link to what the law actually says regarding the sale of the two? Getting a bit annoyed with having to go to two different shops to buy what I should be able buy to legally in one.

HappyMJ

TeaCake wrote: »

Like with previous posters, this is the first result when searching for the law regarding buying paracetamol and ibuprofen.
Ive just come back from a supermarket and was refused two boxes of paracetamol and two ibuprofen because its "against the law" to sell them to me by a checkout assistant when in a previous shop ive checked with a Pharmacist and he said it was fine.
Does anyone know a link to what the law actually says regarding the sale of the two? Getting a bit annoyed with having to go to two different shops to buy what I should be able buy to legally in one.

Does it really matter? They only want to sell two packs and that's it. What the law says or doesn't say doesn't really matter. The retailer has chosen to only sell two packs. Go to the pharmacy they'll sell you as many as you want and they feel you need within reason (max 100) or go to the GP and they'll give you a prescription for as many as the GP feels you need.

Dave101t

doesnt ibuprofen contain 500mg paracetamol the same as paracetamol? if so, thats the reason.

peachyprice

Dave101t wrote: »

doesnt ibuprofen contain 500mg paracetamol the same as paracetamol? if so, thats the reason.

No, they are two totally unrelated drugs that work in totally different ways.

The Nurofen people have just started marketing a new thing (can't remember what fancy name they've come up with) which costs a bomb and is the equivalent of taking one of each of the cheapies, perhaps that's what you're thinking of?

HappyMJ

peachyprice wrote: »

No, they are two totally unrelated drugs that work in totally different ways.

The Nurofen people have just started marketing a new thing (can't remember what fancy name they've come up with) which costs a bomb and is the equivalent of taking one of each of the cheapies, perhaps that's what you're thinking of?

Nuromol. £3.99 for a pack of 12.

TeaCake

I would rather know the law than have to travel for another 20mins to a different shop who will sell me the products I want. But thank you for your helpful post.

Mark_Thompson_3

I am a nurse and went with my wife into Tesco today and was refused to be able to buy two of each. I didn't want to make a song and dance with the checkout lady but it's so stupid. I think I may have bust my ribs, but definitely sprained them and want to self medicate without using heavy duty painkillers. To have to listen to such idiotic Bull is really irritating.I like many others appreciate the sentiment but when in pain I don't give a hoot about what people perceive to be the law. Imho they are wrong, end of! As above this only applies to paracetamol.

Steph312

This is quite sickening and very annoying, these are medicines not sweets or carrots or a pack of crisps. I'm not sure of the exact details of each and every scenario of a transaction that has taken place to infuriate MSE'ers to the point of having to make a post on the forum about it because of the frustration brought on due to a refusal to sell, but it all seems very one-sided.

What do you expect? There are safety issues to consider.
Some supermarkets have pharmacies some do not, for the ones that don't whether they fully know the law or not pharmacy wise is questionable. Do they know or have the resources available to check, types of interactions or anything with the medicines you might be purchasing from them or know the questions to ask and or have details of your medication/medical history; definitely not.
From the RPS website quoted above its true up to 3pks of 32pk size Paracetamol 500mg tabs can be sold OTC legally in one transaction the max legally is 100 tablets but practically because of the restrictions on pack sizes sold OTC are 16s GSL and 32sP's max is 96 table in reality. To sell the 100 pack size of paracetamol OTC is illegal because one box of 100 paracetamol 500mg is POM (prescription only), there are restrictions for aspirin also. If the pharmacist pops out for lunch or is away from the pharmacy premises for any reason, the legal situation changes because of 2010 Responsible Pharmacist policies only GSL can be sold i.e. only 16 pk paracetamol etc.

I have seen this quantity (96 tabs) sold when a pharmacist has used their profesional judgement knows the patient well many years regular patient, or has their medication history in whatever way the pharmacist is comfortable with the sale and confident about taking accountability for it, alls good and well.
I remember whilst at superdrugs and morrisons it was store policy a max. of two packs, that's what those companies felt comfortable with being accountable for, for whoever decides to walk through their doors Betty regular from down the road or Sam just flown in from Singapore maybe that's changed now; as i'm not sure of the exact store policy and how that actually gets executed in everyday running of all business that sell medicines (wilkos/99pstore/£1 land) but that's what i experienced previously.
In a big busy supermarket without a pharmacy might not know that Betty's on warfarin but regulary buys paracetamol or Sam's is suicidal on antidepressants from PTSD and has visited four other retailers for paracetamol before coming here.

OTC products are designed for the treatment of minor self limiting conditions, hence restrictions on the types of medicines available as GSL or P and on pack size and total quantities to sell if they aren't working in a certain amount of time you should see a doctor.
OTC products aren't set up in mind for the purpose of people wanting to stockpile medicines to self medicate serious injuries or just have around for reassurance.
If you are in that much pain you can easily undermine the law by visiting different retailers on your highstreet (i'm not advising that you do this); superdrugs, boots, local chemist simple or it should prompt you to see your GP too check if something more serious is wrong.

The limits are there for patient safety (overdosing liver poisoning), what actually gets sold also has the factor of business liability and why shouldn't these companies be covering their backs.
If the staff barely know you how reassured can they be about how you'll use any medicine, some people/patients/customer can and do lie.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21370910?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Royal+Pharmaceutical+Society&utm_campaign=2138411_Today%27s+Headlines+Friday+8+Feb&dm_i=EQ,19U0B,7WOGKO,4BAOW,1

There aren't legal restrictions on max quantities of ibuprofen OTC but what pharmacist is going to sell 3 pks of 24pk (72 tabs) nurofen 400mg tabs OTC to anyone strolling in, its made in a small pack for a reason. Sure pharmacy is a business you want to make money but at what risk to the patient and yourself if something goes wrong and you might possibly be struck off by GPhc (might be a bit of a dramatization but who knows). However a pharmacist wouldn't blink at dispensing 84 ibuprofen 400mg tabs on a prescription even if it had 200 pk paracetamol 500mg prescribed on the same script for the next patient.
This is MSE forum so i can understand prescriptions might be inconvenient long waits for appointments with GPs or your not exempt from prescription charges for just paracetamol and ibuprofen even if large quantities written (which should be followed up and questioned by pharmacist) still total £15.70 is pricey when you can get a two packs of each for ~£5.

Again it comes down to professional judgement and that's why its important to get your medicines, or at least try to go to one pharmacy continually. So that the staff and pharmacist knows you or can have an idea of or character and judge whether you'd be sensible with medicines or not.
So that when you explain this or that happened, or i'm off on holiday, i want an extra pack for a first aid kit or whatever that pharmacist can reason I'm satisfied with that, and your transaction should be smoother.

Its strange as it still has not even been fully elucidate as to how paracetamol even works & we still all use it and are arguing over it. There are reports of links with over-usage in children to asthma, chronic usage actually causing headaches etc http://www.nice.org.uk/newsroom/pressreleases/CouldPainkillersBeCausingHeadaches.jsp. etc.
Plus chronic use of ibuprofen can cause GI ulcers, renal failure, interacts with other meds, can exacerbate asthma is some asthmatics so is cautioned plus other medicines in it class sold OTC are currently being questioned as whether they should even be on the market anymore because of links to cardiovascular risks voltarol/diclofenac.
http://www.mhra.gov.uk/Safetyinformation/Generalsafetyinformationandadvice/Product-specificinformationandadvice/Product-specificinformationandadvice-A-F/CardiovascularsafetyofCOX-2inhibitorsandnon-selectiveNSAIDs/

You might think i'm scaremongering or this is soo nanny state or that you're being patronized because you're completely sensible, competent & reliable with medicines and this whole thing is ridiculous. But its not so funny if someone has to be admitted to expensive hospital secondary care for a&e treatment on the nhs tax payer footing the bill, or someone gets poisoned to death and its all over the papers.
Who gets blamed then? Try to be reasonable, businesses might not want to be liable for your risky use of medicines. Plus medicines should not be sold without competent pharmacy staff and or a competent pharmacist being present to advise and intervene. People are taking all kinds of risks by purchasing medicines in situations where this is not the case, because there are many many legal & medical restrictions on OTC medicines.