Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver are calling for the recall of codeine – a widely used painkiller, anti-diarrhea and antitussive drug – New Scientist reports.
Codeine (or methylmorphine) is an alkaloid that is part of opium, a white solid. Codeine is a methyl derivative of morphine and is obtained from it on an industrial scale – but some codeine can be converted back into morphine in the body, which has an analgesic effect. It is mildly euphoric and may cause addiction, but it takes longer than morphine.
Stuart MacLeod and Noni MacDonald of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver point out that, depending on genetic characteristics, codeine can act differently on different people – some people’s livers convert it into morphine more efficiently than others. Consequently, an effective dose for one person may already be harmful to another, and for some the drug is not effective at all.
Researchers cite two deaths of children who were administered codeine for tonsillectomy, and two studies describing intoxication in breastfed babies whose mothers took codeine.
Toronto Children’s Hospital has already stopped using codeine, and the authors of the study are urging other institutions to follow suit. British specialists commenting on this proposal point out that the greater efficiency of the conversion of codeine into morphine occurs in 1-2 percent. population. (PAP)