Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Observations THE WEEK IN MEDICINE

Is killing the pain worth the risk?

BMJ 2007; 334 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39104.415961.68 (Published 25 January 2007) Cite this as: BMJ 2007;334:186

Rapid Response:

Will withdrawing the drug reduce the overall risk of suicide?

Two questions spring to mind.

1. Will the ban on co-proxamol actually prevent suicidal patients
from achieving their aim or is it more likely that they will seek other
drugs to do so?

2. What cheap alternative will offered to the thousands of patients
whose pain was well-controlled by co-proxamol but will now be denied this
treatment so that 300-400 other patients will not be able to use it as a
means to suicide?

Competing interests:
None declared

Competing interests: No competing interests

27 January 2007
Harry Hershkorn
retired GP
Rehovot, 76283, Israel