E-drug: Re: Dipyrone - not in Australia (last message)
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Our Cuban friends have claimed that dipyrone has been reintroduced in
Australia. That is not true. However I do know of one case some years ago
of an Australian man who narrowly escaped death from agranulocytosis after
taking dipyrone which he smuggled back to Australia after a visit to the
Philippines. Dipyrone was banned in Australia more than 25 years ago. I
do not think we had reliable statistics about the incidence of
agranulocytosis back then.
The Boston study should not be described as reliable.
Our friends ask for a safer analgesic. Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is used
very heavily in Australia without concern about safety except in overdose.
I concede that overdose is a problem. However as self inflicted injury it is
in a different category from serious adverse effects such as
agranulocytosis and anaphylaxis occurring with recommended doses.
When paracetamol is not strong enough Australians mostly use narcotics such
as codeine and oxycodone with the latter becoming used more frequently in
recent years than before.
regards,
Peter
Dr Peter Mansfield
Director, MaLAM
MaLAM encourages pharmaceutical companies to provide more reliable
information to assist appropriate health care.
MaLAM Headquarters
PO Box 172, Daw Pk SA 5041, Australia
phone/fax +61 8 8374 2245
peter.mansfield@flinders.edu.au
http://www.camtech.net.au/malam
[Note from moderator: with this we close the discussion on dipyrone.
Dipyrone was also discussed some time ago on E-drug. Kirsten Myhr]
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