§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to promote comethiamol to doctors and pharmacists as a safe alternative to paracetamol; [40402]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of deaths which could be avoided each year if comethiamol were to be sold and prescribed instead of paracetamol; [40401]
(3) what research his Department has done on increasing the safety of paracetamol by adding methionine. [40403]
§ Mr. SackvilleParacetamol is an effective pain killer which is safe at the dosage recommended on the labelling. Comethiamol is a combination of paracetamol and methionine and is currently available from pharmacists as Pameton.
It is not appropriate for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health to promote the use of a particular medicine. It is not correct to describe comethiamol as a safe alternative to paracetamol. The methionine component is likely to be of value only if an overdose is taken. People who use paracetamol as recommended would therefore unnecessarily be exposed to any side-effects the methionine might have, without deriving any benefit.