{"id":76826,"date":"2023-04-17T12:08:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T10:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-bans-use-of-cough-medicine-containing-pholcodine"},"modified":"2023-04-17T14:40:30","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T12:40:30","slug":"zimbabwe-bans-use-of-cough-medicine-containing-pholcodine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-bans-use-of-cough-medicine-containing-pholcodine","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe Bans Use Of Cough Medicine Containing Pholcodine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has ordered healthcare professionals to advise patients to stop taking pholcodine-containing medicines.<\/p>\n

Pholcodine is an opioid medicine that is used in adults and children for the treatment of non-productive (dry) cough and, in combination with other active substances, for the treatment of symptoms of cold and flu.<\/p>\n

In Zimbabwe, pholcodine-containing products are marketed under the brand names Pholtex Plus and Pholtex Forte with the registration numbers 2018\/22.2.5\/5734 and 99\/22.2.1\/3624 respectively.<\/p>\n

In a recent statement, MCAZ director general Richard Rukwata said:<\/p>\n

MCAZ would like to advise all stakeholders of a significant safety issue with pholcodine-containing medicines.<\/p>\n

Available data indicate that the use of pholcodine in the 12 months before general anesthesia with neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBA) such as suxamethonium, and atracurium is a risk factor for developing an anaphylactic reaction upon administration of the NMBA.<\/p>\n

The Authority would like to draw the attention of all licensed pharmaceutical wholesalers, pharmacies, public and private clinics, and hospitals that they must quarantine the stated products.<\/p>\n

… due to the seriousness of the safety risk, all pholcodine-containing products are being withdrawn from the Zimbabwean market.<\/p>\n

Health care professionals, advise patients to stop taking pholcodine-containing medicines and consider appropriate alternatives to treat their symptoms.<\/p>\n

Check whether patients scheduled to undergo general anesthesia with NMBAs have used pholcodine in the previous 12 months and remain aware of the risk of anaphylactic reactions in those patients.<\/p>\n

The UK government says there is already a known link between pholcodine and an increased risk of the very rare event of a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to muscle relaxants (neuromuscular blocking agents) that are used during general anaesthesia in surgery.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has ordered healthcare professionals to advise patients to stop taking pholcodine-containing medicines. Pholcodine is an opioid medicine that is used in adults and children for the treatment of non-productive (dry) cough and, in combination with other active substances, for the treatment of symptoms of cold […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":76824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[1493,2189,2426,2802,14567,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-76826","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"tag-africa-press","10":"tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","11":"tag-mcaz","12":"tag-medicines-control-authority-of-zimbabwe-mcaz","13":"tag-pholcodine","14":"tag-zimbabwe"},"yoast_head":"\nZimbabwe Bans Use Of Cough Medicine Containing Pholcodine - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has ordered healthcare professionals to advise patients to stop takin ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-bans-use-of-cough-medicine-containing-pholcodine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zimbabwe Bans Use Of Cough Medicine Containing Pholcodine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has ordered healthcare professionals to advise patients to stop takin ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-bans-use-of-cough-medicine-containing-pholcodine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-17T10:08:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-17T12:40:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681717139.96.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"854\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"510\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-bans-use-of-cough-medicine-containing-pholcodine\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-bans-use-of-cough-medicine-containing-pholcodine\",\"name\":\"Zimbabwe Bans Use Of Cough Medicine Containing Pholcodine - 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