November 29, 2016.
Michèle Delaunay, president of the Alliance against tobacco and former secretary of state for the elderly, alerted the Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine, to the risks of these flavored drugs.
Medicines should not be trivialized
More and more pharmaceutical companies are playing the taste card to better sell their drugs. The consumer can indeed find at the pharmacy Efferalgan “cappuccino”, Fervex “raspberry” or even Smecta “strawberry”. Dangerous marketing, which Michèle Delaunay wanted to highlight by calling on the Ministry of Health.
” I plead that, in general, we neutralize the bad taste of drugs, but these health products should not be trivialized and become marketing objects, because they are not trivial and could lead to the risk of overconsumption », She explains in an interview with 20 minutes.
Watch out for intoxication!
Good taste can make it easier for parents to treat little ones, but it can also cause a mischievous child to exaggerate the symptoms to have what they associate with candy. However, an overdose can lead to poisoning. Paracetamol, in particular, can be very toxic if the doses are not respected. It can damage the liver and suppress liver function.
” The object is not to prohibit them “, Adds Michèle Delaunay in the daily newspaper,” but of ensure that they are not approached as mere marketing products “. ” The question of the very attractive packaging of these drugs is a matter of concern. Care should be taken to ensure that these drugs look like drugs “.
The National Medicines Health Agency (ANSM) is reportedly in the process of developing ” marketing recommendations to pharmaceutical companies ” on this topic. Recommendations to be unveiled at the end of 2016, beginning of 2017.
