Half of counter medicine 'harmful'

HALF of non-prescription medicines do more harm than good, according to a study by a consumer group.

Investigations by 60 Million Consommateurs found that in more than half of the medicines that are available over the counter in France, the side-effect outweighed the actual benefits.

In some cases certain medicines risked exacerbating conditions that were far worse than those they were supposed to be treating.

Of the of 61 medicines tested by the group, 28 were considered to have side effects so severe they were classed as dangerous.

The group’s report gave the example of the danger of medicines that contained pseudoephedrine - a vasoconstrictor which can help unblock noses but which also increases the risk of cardiovascular problems.

Some surprising effects could be found, such as some cough syrups whose use could lead to sleep problems.

A further 20 other medicines were labelled ‘for want of anything better’, ie. they had limited side effects but also limited effectiveness.

The group only picked 13 medicines for its ‘preferred’ category and said that plant-based inhalers or those based on essential oils were the best for help symptoms of colds and flu.

See also:
Health warning on cold remedies
Cough medicines ‘mostly useless’
Photo:Flick/Cooksowell
Article amended on Dec 4 to replace 'skin creams' with 'cough syrups'