After the death of a teenage girl linked to codeine abuse, the French want certain drugs to be subject to prescription.
Colds, headaches, muscle aches … To treat these little everyday ailments, 20% of French people opt for self-medication, reports an Odoxa survey for Le Figaro, France Inter and the MNH published this Thursday, June 22 (1).
But the death of Pauline, a 16-year-old girl, last May, calls into question the access to certain drugs available without a prescription. The young girl was diverting codeine-based drugs for recreational purposes. Since the beginning of the year, 5 teenagers have reportedly been victims of intoxication after consuming these cocktails containing codeine, cough syrup and soda, nicknamed “Purple drank”. Two died from it.
Limit diversion
A drama denounced by Pauline’s mother via a petition on Change.org signed by more than 49,000 Internet users. The alert relayed by the media was heard by two thirds of French people, reports the Odoxa poll.
They are as much to wish that the drugs which can be diverted are subjected to a prescription, even if it means forcing the French to go to their doctor. People 65 and over are more than 77% in favor of this restriction.
On the other hand, 18-24 year olds are more reluctant to this idea. Just under half believe that drugs that can be used as drugs do not need to be prescribed.
Lack of awareness of the dangers
This opposition may be explained by the lack of awareness of the risks of these open-access drugs. Indeed, according to the survey, a quarter of French people think that these products are safe or contraindicated. For 35% of those questioned, the dangers associated with these drugs appear only at high doses, and 40% believe that the risks are too rare to justify a prescription.
However, any medication can cause unwanted effects. Paracetamol, the molecule most consumed in France, can cause irreversible damage to the liver, especially if it is combined with alcohol. This drug, which may seem harmless, is one of the main causes of poisoning, and the number one reason for liver transplantation for severe acute hepatitis.
Likewise, aspirin and ibuprofen, present in all French households, can cause digestive hemorrhage. After paracetamol, these two drugs are the most frequently implicated in cases of drug poisoning. These risks are even greater in people with multiple medications, such as the elderly.
(1) Survey carried out on June 14 and 15, 2017 by the Odoxa institute among 1,002 people representing the French population aged 18 and over.
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