Jarrett highlights the potential problems caused by the high sodium content of soluble paracetamol tablets.1 The UK Medicines Information Service (UKMi) receives many inquiries about sodium in medicines and is aware that healthcare professionals can have difficulty in finding this information. The service has published a document describing the sodium content of a large range of effervescent tablets, soluble analgesics, and other preparations with potentially high concentrations of sodium. This document is updated every two years and can be freely accessed via the National electronic Library of Medicines.2
Since 2003, the European Medicines Evaluation Agency requires that the sodium content of oral and injectable medicines, containing 1mmol or more per dose, is stated in the summary of product characteristics, labelling, and package insert3—however, this only applies to newly launched products or those submitted to the regulatory authorities for amendment.
Competing interests: None declared.
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a599
References
- 1.Jarrett DRJ. Time to label sodium in drug treatments? BMJ 2008;336: 1324. (21 June.) doi:10.1136/bmj.39605.540995.3A [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.McEntee J. Medicines Q&A: Sodium content of medicines June 2008. www.nelm.nhs.uk/Documents/QA145.2_Sodium_content.doc?id=573370 on 24/06/2008
- 3.European Commission. Medicinal products for human use: safety, environment and information. Excipients in the label and package leaflet of medicinal products for human use July 2003. Reference 3BC7A. www.emea.europa.eu/pdfs/human/productinfo/3bc7a_200307en.pdf