The number of people seeking help for suspected poisoning from common painkillers stored in home medicine cabinets is escalating.
The National Poisons Centre had to field 1,622 calls about possible poisoning by paracetamol last year – up from 1,082 in 2007.
And it dealt with 512 calls about potentially toxic doses of another painkiller ibuprofen, the annual report of the centre in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin will reveal later this week.
The rise in suspected paracetamol poisoning, which included accidental and deliberate overdoses, comes despite restrictions on the sale and packet size of the drug being in place for 12 years.
The centre's clinical director, Dr Edel Duggan, pictured, said it was important that the regulations governing the control of paracetamol, which in large doses can cause liver damage or death, are enforced.
However, she said the problem was trying to balance the need to make what is an effective painkiller taken at normal doses accessible to the public, while also ensuring safeguards were in place.
Source: Eilish O'Regan, Irish independent, 09/09/2013
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