Over-the-counter Drugs in the Inquiries to the Poison Information Centre

Overview

The aim of the study is to assess the occurrence of inquiries to the Poison Information Centre in theyears 1998–2002, concerning medical preparations containing active agents included in Act No.79/1997 on Drugs in the group of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs which can be sold in the CzechRepublic in other shops than pharmacies. It deals especially with medical preparations containingparacetamol, ibuprofen, mephenhydramine teoclate, disinfectants with iodine or 10% solutions ofquaternary ammonium compounds and 3% solutions of hydrogen peroxide. The attention is focusedon the quantitative assessment of inquiries, sex, age of patients, ingested dose, way of intoxication,recommended treatment and prognosis of the intoxication of the patient. The computer programmeemployed was established for the registrations of the calls to the Poison Information Centre. Thehighest number of intoxications was seen in the case of pharmaceuticals containing paracetamoland ibuprofen.The inquiries onOTCdrugs that can be sold in other shops than pharmacies represent6.3% of all calls during this five year period. The intoxication in women, suicidal attempts, ingestionof a toxic dose, rather good prognosis and a combination of several drugs predominate in the calls.

Key words:
OTC drug – Poison Information Centre – paracetamol – ibuprofen – mephenhydramine teoclate – iodine – uaternary ammonium compounds – hydrogen peroxide