From Tony Durham, Brighton, East Sussex, UK
What exactly are “codeine-related deaths” (7 January, p 6)? Obviously they are regrettable, but how many are caused by codeine itself, and how many by substances that are mixed with codeine in over-the-counter preparations, such as paracetamol?
And as for it being a “rubbish” painkiller: if we banned every drug that “doesn't help people as much as they think it does” we would have few medicines left.
The editor writes:
• A study found that paracetamol or ibuprofen was involved in 55 per cent of the 1200 codeine-related deaths recorded in Australia between 2000 and 2013 (Medical Journal of Australia, doi.org/bxzt). But it's the codeine that's addictive and contributes to people consuming too much paracetamol or ibuprofen.
Advertisement
