Over-the-counter agents used improperly to curb opioid withdrawal or induce high-dose euphoria were linked to a disproportionate number of lethal arrhythmias reported to national pharmacovigilance systems, the researchers found. The antidiarrheal drug loperamide, a weak synthetic opioid, was significantly associated with ventricular arrhythmia (proportional reporting ratio [PRR] 3.2, 95% CI 3.0-3.4), with 37% of 1,008 FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) reports involving death. The arrhythmic signal was worse — a PRR of 8.9 (95% CI 6.7-11.7) — for mitragynine, the main active ingredient in the herbal supplement kratom. Fully…
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Hidden Dangers of Buying Prescription Drugs Online Without Seeing a Primary Care Doctor First
An increasing number of people are risking their lives by buying medicines over the internet before seeing their GP. The number of prescriptions supplied by online pharmacies has doubled in two years, from 26 million in 2019 to 53 million. More patients than ever are turning to the internet for their prescriptions Reliable websites help lighten the load on high street pharmacies. But as patients struggle to see a GP, many are turning to Google and self-diagnosing before buying online. Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs,…
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