UAE’s Health Authority Says Anti-Cold Drugs Safe
Over-the-counter drugs containing a chemical banned by the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) are available in the UAE, but the Ministry of Health says there is no cause for alarm, reported Gulf News on Thursday.
According to a report by FDA in November, all manufacturers, repackers, and distributors of any prescription or OTC drug product containing phenylpropanolamine were instructed to remove the ingredient from all drug products revealing that it may cause a hemorrhagic stroke.
Since 1979, more than 30 case reports have been published that link intracranial hemorrhaging to patients who have taken PPA, the report says. Affected patients were most commonly adolescent girls or young women between the ages of 17 and 45 who were using PPA-containing appetite suppressants, often for the first time, according to a report by New England Journal of Medicine in December.
The study by the Hemorrhagic Stroke Project was done in collaboration with the FDA and looked at 702 men and women between the ages of 18 and 49, who were recruited from 43 U.S. hospitals where they were recovering from strokes.
However, the UAE’s Department of Drug Control at the ministry said that drugs containing phenylpropanolamine, which are available in the UAE, contain a safe isomer of the compound. Two chemical compounds are considered isomers if they have the same molecular formula but different structures. This means that they react and combine with chemicals differently.
Phenylpropanolamine is an ingredient used in prescription and over-the-counter drug products such as nasal decongestants to relieve stuffy noses or sinus problems, cough and cold products and in weight control preparations to curb appetite – Albawaba.com
