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THE EUROPEAN UNION’S medicines advisory body has issued a public health warning, advising parents not to administer codeine tablets to children under the age of 12.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA)’s recommendation may lead to an EU-wide legal review to regulate the use of the painkilling drug if it is intended for use by children.
The EMA’s risk assessment committee undertook a review of how the drug is used, after reports of children who died or developed a serious adverse reaction after taking codeine for pain relief.
The drug is sometimes given to children after having their tonsils removed, or after surgery on the adenoid glands to treat sleep apnoea.
It has now recommended giving codeine to children above 12 only in cases where other painkillers like paracetamol or ibuprofen have failed to relieve their pain.
It says codeine should not be used at all for under-18s who have undergone adenoid or tonsil surgery.
The threat from codeine comes in the way that the body converts it to morphine as a way of treating pain.
The physical build of children means this may happen faster than expected – leading to high level of morphine in the blood stream, which can then cause respiratory depression.
The EMA has also recommended that codeine should not be taken by breast-feeding mothers, as it can be passed to a child through breast milk, and that the drug should also be avoided by people who are known to be ‘ultra-rapid metabolisers’.
The agency said that while the adult body’s reaction to codeine was the subject of extensive research, little investigation had been undertaken into how it is handled by a juvenile body.
It said there was limited data on how effective the drug was at offering pain relief for juveniles – and it was possible that, for young people, codeine may not be any more effective than a more routine painkiller like paracetamol.
The sale of codeine has been restricted in Ireland since 2010, and can now only be sold over-the-counter under the personal supervision of a pharmacist and with the ‘appropriate counselling’.
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Codeine is a very very dangerous and highly addicitve drug. If you feel the need to use painkillers try to stick with paracetamol or ibuprofen.
That’s a bit of a stretch.
I get occasional (maybe 2-3 times a year) absolutely blinding headaches, debilitatingly painful, which can last for several days. They laugh at paracetamol, but a couple of Neurfen Plus do the trick nicely. I’ve been taking them occasionally for years and in no sense whatsoever have I become addicted to them, I’ve never wanted to take them in the absence of significant pain, never longed for them, never felt any pleasurable sensation that would prompt me to take more – apart from the high of a bloody awful pain going away – and never felt any withdrawal when I stopped taking them cos the pain went away. I am not seeing the potential for addiction in my case.
Loads and loads of women who suffer from excruciating pain from period cramps use Codeine regularly without any addiction or any unwanted side effects whatsoever.
Are there people who have a particular metabolism which makes them more dangerous? Of course, which is what this article is about and why there are warnings about proper use. Are there people who look for the potential of psycho-active effect in any given drug and attempt to maximise that effect by going off-label? Of course, but they have issues that are not the fault of codeine. Are there people who abuse them? Of course there are.
There is a big difference between ‘using’ a drug and ‘abusing’ a drug. If you are using codeine appropriately to manage pain that other drugs just don’t deal with, the chances of addiction are remote in the extreme.
Try cannabis instead. It is hands down the best painkiller available.
Yeah, sure, maybe if you’ve all day to do nothing or can’t work or something. I’ve usually got a day’s work to do and a house full of people expecting dinner to materialise, so I’ll stick with something that lets me just get on with that.
Not that simple Alan! I’ve an anaphylactic allergy to aspirin and ibuprofen based pain killers, but unfortunately I suffer with endometriosis meaning I need a serious pain killer on a monthly basis. Codeine really works for the likes of myself, and there is a place for it for those of us who can’t rely on the standard OTC painkillers, though its so hard to get that I end up opting for a prescription painkiller these days :s
On the flip side, a member of my immediate family is long term chronically ill and has a very serious codeine addiction and I’ve seen the damage it can do. Perhaps that experience keeps me from falling into the trap of the drug, or perhaps it simply doesn’t trigger the same positive reaction leading to the addictive response in me. I’m no expert! But its a powerful painkiller that gives relief to those in serious pain, (likely to be under medical supervision) there’s a valid need for it.
Katie, I’m the same, get serious back pain a few times year, and Neurofen plus is rhetorically only thing that lets me carry on for the day. I only use it then ( use paracetamol or ibuprofen otherwise) and it’s great, with no problems.
I suppose not everyone is responsible with drugs though.
Actually while there is a slim chance you may become addicted to codein if you take massive amounts of it everyday for a long time it is much safer than paracetamol.
Paracetamol is highly toxic to the liver and an OD generally has little to no symptoms until it is too late and only a transplant will save you.
Codein on the other hand is almost impossible to OD on
Katie & Aindriu
Have you tried difene 100mg pr? I was in the same boat with headaches ( very odd periods of back pain as well work related) syndol was the only thing that worked until my gp suggested difene when syndol went off the market. Haven’t had to take anything with codeine in since.
Not really safer Robert as codeine is combined with either paracetamol or bfrufen in over the counter meds both of which are highly toxic. Paracetamol toxic to the liver and bfrufen to the kidneys.
What I meant was when combined with paracetamol codeine is actually the safer of the two drugs.
Most people would not think that
Difene is a very dangerous drug and can cause kidney failure, it should not be used as a routine painkiller.
Does this mean that small people generally (under 5’4, say – 5 metres 6) shouldn’t take Solpadeine either?
Are the EMA suddenly realising that alot of the medicines that they licenced for profit are now actually dangerous to the human body ?
I can’t take solphadeine makes me feel really sick always has
Thanks for sharing that with us.
Your very welcome
The solphodine MAX up north are better
They’re actually the same dose they label it max in the north because the soluble tablets dissolve quicker in the bloodstream than taking the tablets so you get relief quicker through the soluble method.
12.8 mg codeine in max – 8 mg in normal
I thought that Phenergan was the drug of choice for most parents. ;-)
Go on oua dat, I bet yiz all gave yer kid a drop of finnegan to get a bit of peace.
I literally wouldn’t wish a prescription of codeine on my worst enemy. Wrecks ya for a week
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