Following the allegedly first published case of acute confusion observed in a 14-year-old girl, doctors warned consumers about the dangers of over-the-counter medications that contain codeine. Health experts stressed that cough medications containing codeine could be unnecessary due to lack of evidence about its effectivity.
Accordingly to an article from the BMJ Case Reports journal, there remains a huge number of parents who give their children medications containing codeine. The medicine's perceived analgesic effects and strength encourage many parents to give codeine medications despite warnings.
Codeine Linked To Acute Confusion
The 14-year-old girl was found at the accident & emergency department of a hospital, following a five-day case of amnesia and "fluctuating confusion." The teenager suffered from low attention span and recurrent headaches. The girl sometimes slept for up to 20 hours in a day.
The girl's parents reported that the teenager sometimes changed languages while finishing a homework. Sometimes, the girl would give false reports about finishing tasks such as taking a bath. The teenager failed to go to school due to flu-like symptoms that last more than 15 days. As a remedy, her parents have been giving her oral codeine phosphate at two to three spoonsful daily.
The maximum daily dosage of oral codeine phosphate is three to six spoonfuls. The teenager's daily medication is far below the recommended daily intake. However, the medication's suggested duration is up to three days only, with a maximum of 270mg during the entire treatment course. Collectively, the teenager had already taken 450 to 675mg of codeine.
The symptoms dropped five days after her hospital admission. The doctors also found no trace of codeine in her urine. Two weeks her discharge, a clinical review showed status of good health.
Doctors said confusion is not a common complaint among patients who suffered intoxication from codeine. The documented case highlighted the need for further research to conclude the link. Codeine affects breathing and causes severe flushing and itching. It also affects the central nervous system.
In the BMJ article published on Dec. 23, authors highlighted the codeine's lack of efficacy combined with acute dependence and intoxication risks suggest over-the-counter codeine drugs may be unnecessary after all.
Warnings Against Codeine Use
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the UK said codeine is an authorized medication for pain relief. However, codeine is not recommended for use among adolescents or children to treat cold and cough symptoms due to respiratory side-effects.
"If anyone has any questions, they should speak to their GP or pharmacist who can best advise on alternative treatments," added the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
Royal College of General Practitioners' honorary secretary Professor Nigel Mathers added that general practitioners know the risks linked with codeine prescriptions. The general rule remains that GPs should not recommend codeine medications to children or adolescents unless it is absolutely necessary or when alternative medication explored showed no results.
Photo: Ashley Harrigan | Flickr
