Strict new guidelines on paracetamol overdose treatment have given the UK the lowest threshold for antidote treatment anywhere. But a first analysis of the impact, published in the [s]British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology[/s], suggests that for every life saved, another 31,000 patients will be unnecessarily treated – and put at risk of serious side effects – at a cost of £17.4m. The [b]University of Edinburgh’s Prof Nick Bateman[/b], author of the study, writes in [s]The Conversation[/s] that ‘in a financially stretched health service it seems pretty clear that the [regulatory authority] overreacted’. He points out that such treatment policy changes don’t undergo scrutiny by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the NHS watchdog. Nor does the Medical and Healthcare Regulatory Agency have to consider the cost implications of its decisions.
[link url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bcp.12362/abstract]BJCP abstract only[/link]
[link url=https://theconversation.com/new-paracetamol-overdose-treatment-costs-millions-but-doesnt-save-many-lives-24862?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+27+March+2014&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+27+March+2014+CID_c6d816d8f68a32e5db9f961532095c5b&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=ineffective%20and%20a%20clear%20example%20of%20overreaction]Full The Conversation article[/link]