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Codeine 'too easy' to buy online RPS President tells BBC

RPS President Sandra Gidley was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning about the availability of codeine from online pharmacies, often registered outside the UK.

The programme highlighted a case of a woman who had died after taking codeine obtained from 16 different online pharmacies.  She was originally prescribed codeine after an accident and ended up using £10K of her own money, including payday loans, to cover the cost of buying it online after her GP tried to help her withdraw from the drug.

The coroner in the case has written to the Secretary of State for Health asking for urgent action to prevent the uncoordinated supply of codeine.

Sandra agreed it is “far too easy for people who want to buy online codeine to get it” and commented that that “the coroner was right to flag the issue, as it could easily happen again.”

Listen to Sandra’s interview:

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