Germans are swallowing more and more painkillers

Prescription of strong painkillers and narcotics increased significantly

03/11/2012

The German Drug Testing Institute e.V. (DAPI) has registered a significant increase in the dispensing of narcotics. In 2011, the Germans bought more than eight million narcotics per prescription in pharmacies - a large part of which were strong painkillers.

Overall, the regulation of narcotics in recent years is a very worrying trend. Above all, the prescription of strong analgesics has significantly increased, according to the German Drug Testing Institute. In the year 2005, 4.2 million packs were distributed by members of the statutory health insurance (SHI) to pharmacists, compared with 5.7 million packs in 2009 and more than 6.3 million packs in 2011. This corresponds to an increase of 50 percent within just six years, reports the Federal Association of German Pharmacists Associations (ABDA), citing the results of the pharmacopoeia.

More than eight million narcotic packs issued on prescription
Based on the evaluation of prescription data from the statutory health insured, the German Drug Testing Institute determined how many narcotic drugs were spent on GKV members in pharmacies. According to this, in 2011 pharmacies distributed approximately 8.4 million narcotic packs to legally insured persons. With 6.3 million packs, strong painkillers accounted for the largest share. On the other hand, private recipes were expressly ignored in the investigation of the pharmacopoeia, so that the total number of narcotic drugs given in Germany is significantly higher than 8.4 million packs.

State relies on the sense of responsibility of pharmacists
Since the intake of narcotics with significant side effects may go hand in hand and the risk of abuse exists, the supply of patients with appropriate drugs is regulated by the legislature. For pharmacies, these legal requirements require a considerable amount of documentation in the storage and dispensing of narcotics. „To protect patients from abuse, the state relies on the special responsibility of the pharmacist“, explained DAPI Chairman, Dr. med. Andreas pine. Although the pharmacists receive per delivery of a narcotic for the increased effort „a flat rate of 0.26 euros in addition, but that often does not even cover the fees that the wholesalers demand from the pharmacy“, so pine continues.

General practitioners and internists prescribe most narcotics
According to DAPI, the regulation of narcotics is mainly carried out by general practitioners (47% of all packs) and internists (17%). In particular, the regulations of strong painkillers focus on these two groups of physicians, reports the pharmacopoeia. 56 percent of analgesics were prescribed by general practitioners, 22 percent by internists. In general, the issued recipes are only valid for eight days before they expire in order to prevent possible abuse at this point as well.

Also, critically evaluate over-the-counter analgesics
No consideration is given in the evaluation of the pharmacopoeia over-the-counter analgesics. Although these are not classified as narcotics according to the legal requirements, their increased use is also rated extremely critically by experts. It is not without reason that the Committee of Experts at the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) decided in June to limit the size of the over-the-counter painkillers based on the active ingredients acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), diclofenac, ibuprofen and naproxen. The careless handling of the drugs could lead to significant health problems such as liver damage, the panel justified its recommendation.

Self-therapy with over-the-counter analgesics
For many Germans, the self-treatment of headaches, back pain or body aches has long been part of everyday life, which can not be changed even by smaller packs. However, this form of self-therapy is quite problematic for several reasons. Although the pain can often be remedied by over-the-counter painkillers at short notice, the actual cause of the symptoms remains untreated. Because no medical diagnosis is made, serious illnesses may remain undetected for longer. In addition, there are the side effects of the painkillers, which in turn can cause significant health problems if taken regularly. (Fp)