Royal Pharmaceutical Society calls for ban on multi-buy deals of paracetamol

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has urged the government to pass legislation that prohibits retailers from offering multi-buy deals on paracetamol.

The professional body said multi-buy offers, such as ‘buy one get one free’, are in direct violation of voluntary sales guidelines that exist to help prevent overdose, and can encourage people to buy more packs than they actually need.

RPS warned that this can lead to excess packs being stored at home, which poses a risk of accidental or impulsive overdose.

“The sale of medicines carries an extra level of responsibility for retailers as their misuse can pose significant risks to health,” RPS president Professor Claire Anderson said.

“Ensuring public safety cannot solely rely on voluntary codes of conduct, especially when these codes are openly disregarded by some retailers. Through stricter regulation lives can be saved and individuals can be protected from the consequences of paracetamol overdose.”

Voluntary guidance on sales of pain relief medicines set out by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) requests retailers to:

• Not sell more than two packs of medicines for pain relief in any one transaction
• Not use offers that encourage the sale of more than one pack

RPS said it is concerned this self-regulation is not sufficient to safeguard public health and that robust regulatory action is needed. Whilst many retailers stick to the guidance, others deliberately ignore it. Although multi-buy deals outside the voluntary guidance, it is within the law.

In its recently published suicide prevention strategy for England the government recommended that the MHRA monitors compliance with the voluntary guidance to see if regulatory change is required.

“It’s high time legislation was changed to protect public health and prioritise patient safety over profit.” Anderson added.

RPS has also sent the letter to Maria Caulfield, minister for mental health and women’s health and the MHRA to request that action is taken as soon as possible to end multi-buy deals on medicines for pain relief.