Mucilage extracted from Plantago psyllium seeds was evaluated for inertness and safety parameters. The suitability of psyllium mucilage for a pharmaceutical binder was assessed in paracetamol tablets. Properties of the granules prepared using different concentrations of psyllium mucilage was compared with PVP and tragacanth. Psyllium mucilage at 5 % (m/m) was found to be comparable with 3 % (m/...

In southeast Asia, the widespread high prevalence of counterfeits tablets of the vital antimalarial artesunate is of great public health concern. To assess the seriousness of this problem, we quantified the amount of active ingredient present in artesunate tablets by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. This method, in conjunction with analysis of the packaging, classified tablet...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether non-pharmaceutical retail outlets are aboding to the current Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) national guidelines for over-the-counter (OTC) sales of aspirin and paracetamol. METHODS Stages 1 and 2 of the study deployed eight and four medical students, respectively, to undertake a mystery shopper style investigation. Stage 1: eight medi...

BACKGROUND Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is generally considered a safe medication, but is associated with hepatotoxicity at doses above doses of 4.0 g/day, and even below this daily dose in certain populations. METHODS The Nova Scotia Prescription Monitoring Program (NSPMP) in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia is a legislated organization that collects dispensing information on all out-of-h...

Paracetamol is commonly used for self poisoning, and the costs of treating the resulting liver failure in the few who develop it are high. The morbidity could be avoided by adding methionine to paracetamol tablets, but this would mean that the millions of people who take paracetamol responsibly would have to take methionine unnecessarily. Alison Jones and colleagues and Edward Krenzelok debate ...

This study aimed to evaluate whether combined oral oxycodone hydrochloride-controlled release tablets plus paracetamol and tramadol hydrochloride tablets are more effective than epidural analgesia for postoperative pain control and side effects after cesarean section. We randomly enrolled 60 patients scheduled for cesarean section into either: patient-controlled epidural analgesia with 0.1% rop...

INTRODUCTION Paracetamol overdose is the most common drug overdose worldwide. To our knowledge, the maximum number of paracetamol tablets ingested reported in the literature is 45 g. CLINICAL PICTURE We describe a 21-year-old patient who acutely ingested 120 tablets, each 500 mg paracetamol (i.e., 60 g equivalent to 1200 mg/kg body weight) in a suicidal attempt. Our patient also drank 2 bottl...

Evaluated is the use of thin-layer chromatography (TLC) to determine the quality of paracetamol tablets marketed in Bangladesh. The procedure was carried out using a cheap and rapid TLC method developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Reported also is a semiquantitative specific spot test for screening paracetamol tablets. The results obtained indicate that, of the 38 brands tested, t...

BACKGROUND In Ireland, 30% of non-fatal overdoses involve paracetamol. AIMS To determine how and where patients obtained paracetamol, to assess awareness of toxicity and examine the relationship between dose and suicidal intent. METHODS A prospective study of patients admitted following a paracetamol overdose recording their reasons for using paracetamol, their knowledge of its toxicity and...

Acetylsalicylic acid and paracetamol are often formulated together in combination with caffeine, an adjuvant, for the relief of pain, fever and inflammations. A new RP-HPLC method with PDA detection has been developed and validated for the simultaneous estimation of acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol and caffeine in fixed dose combination tablets. A Brownlee analytical column RP-C8 (5 μm, 150 x ...