After WHO notice, Centre advises against pholcodine cough syrups.
After WHO alert, Centre warns against use of cough syrups containing pholcodine. The WHO said there is a heightened risk of allergic reactions that can be life-threatening in people who have taken pholcodine-containing cough syrups at least 12 months prior to some surgeries.
NEW DELHI: In response to a warning from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and some nations’ decisions to prohibit the sale of cough syrups containing pholcodine due to safety concerns, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has now issued a warning to both medical professionals and patients in India to discourage the use of cough syrups containing pholcodine.
In March of 2023, the WHO issued a warning about a potential threat to public health.
There is an increased risk of anaphylactic reactions, which are severe allergic reactions that can sometimes be life-threatening, in people who have taken pholcodine-containing cough syrups and cold remedies at least 12 months prior to surgical procedures that involve the administration of general anaesthesia with neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs), as stated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Anaphylactic reactions are severe allergic reactions that can sometimes even threaten a person’s life.
Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), issued an advisory in which he stated that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had informed healthcare professionals and regulatory authorities of the potential for anaphylactic reactions in patients who had taken pholcodine-containing cough and cold remedies at least a year before undergoing surgical procedures that involved the administration of general anaesthesia with NMBAs.
According to the advice that was issued on July 14, it was said that “further, many regulatory authorities have reviewed and withdrawn/restricted pholcodine-containing cough and cold remedies.”
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