Access to Medicines Campaign calls for ban on paracetamol

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday February 04, 2002 22:24 by Elizabeth OShea - Access to Medicines Campaign sastacht at gofree dot indigo dot ie 184 Stanaway Road Dublin 12 086 8719570

The Irish Medicines Board recently obtained the voluntary withdrawl of kava kava from Irish shops and chemists in response to cases of alleged associated liver damage in Germany and Switzerland. However, the IMB has not secured the withdrawl of paracetamol from shops and chemist even though 49 confirmed cases of paracetamol-associated liver damage occured in Ireland in 1999.

The recenlty-convened Access to Medicines Campaign has called on the Irish Medicines Board to reverse the voluntary withdrawl of kava kava or to ban the prescription and sale of paracetemol.

Kava kava is a plant found in the Polynesian highlands that was originally used in Melanesia as a ritual drink. The beverage calms the drinker while making the person more mentally alert. In the West, it is commonly sold as an over-the-counter stress reduction and relaxant medicine.

The Irish Medicines Board (IMB) has secured ‘voluntary’ withdrawal of the herbal relaxant kava kava from health food shops and chemists. Kava kava has been withdrawn because 30 cases of liver damage allegedly associated with the herbal medicine have been reported in Switzerland and Germany. The IMB considers it ‘prudent’ to withdraw the product to protect people from possible liver damage.

'The IMB's prompt action on kava kava is curious because researchers in Germany and Switzerland have not yet determined conclusively that kava kava caused the 30 cases of liver damage reported,' said Sonya Mulligan, speaking for the Access to Medicines Campaign. 'However,' she continued, 'over 49 cases of liver damage as a result of paracetamol use were reported in Ireland in 1999 alone. But the IMB has only limited the number of paracetamol tablets you can buy at once. They have not ordered the withdrawl of a clearly dangerous medicine, and which is much more widely accessible.'

The Access to Medicines Campaign want the Irish Medicines Board a answer some questions in relation to this latest withdrawl of a herbal medicine:

•Why haven’t the IMB withdrawn paracetamol when it clearly threatens people’s health?
•Why have the IMB withdrawn kava kava when there is not as yet clear proof that the herb caused the reported cases of liver damage? (Irish Times, 4 Feb 2002)
•Why, in general, does the IMB continue to act swiftly against herbal products when they don’t withdraw conventional medicines with damaging side effects?

The Access to Medicines Campaign seeks to ensure the public have equal access to conventional and alternative medicines and procedures by providing information about bias in medical and pharmaceutical practice.