Why dont pharmacists sell Ipecac Syrup anymore?!
Question: Opus is mostly right........Jen D is mostly wrong.
Let me add a few more things though.
Ipecac doesn't work right away. Besides you can almost always get emergency treatment before the ipecac kicks in. There are some poisons that it is essential that you not vomit them up to.
Ipecac still works if you have lost consciousness. Which means you will still puke and likely breathe it into your lungs. It's called 'aspiration' and is life-threatening.
There have also been instances of serious damage, even deaths, caused by the violent and prolonged nature of the vomiting from ipecac
I'm not aware of poison control issuing a recommendation for ipecac any more.
Pharmacies do not keep it behind the counter, nor do we EVER recommend it. Of course most of the poison control people are pharmacists. So I suppose that was a bit redundant.
Answers: Opus is mostly right........Jen D is mostly wrong.
Let me add a few more things though.
Ipecac doesn't work right away. Besides you can almost always get emergency treatment before the ipecac kicks in. There are some poisons that it is essential that you not vomit them up to.
Ipecac still works if you have lost consciousness. Which means you will still puke and likely breathe it into your lungs. It's called 'aspiration' and is life-threatening.
There have also been instances of serious damage, even deaths, caused by the violent and prolonged nature of the vomiting from ipecac
I'm not aware of poison control issuing a recommendation for ipecac any more.
Pharmacies do not keep it behind the counter, nor do we EVER recommend it. Of course most of the poison control people are pharmacists. So I suppose that was a bit redundant.
Syrup of Ipecac was used for many years to induce vomiting in some cases of poison or drug ingestion. However the benefit of forced vomiting in the treatment of poisoning has been questioned. These days, poison control centers rarely recommend its use, and recently the American Academy of Pediatrics reversed its longstanding advice that Ipecac should be kept on hand in the home.
Because there are too many people with eating disorders.....
over-use can cause striations in the heart muscle (can cause issues with beating, and blood flow)... couple that with the fact that you cannot control how much exactly you will throw up when you use it, and I imagine the doctors just thought it wasn't safe enough for general public to use. However, I didn't know that they had taken it off the shelves, it's still available at the Walgreens on the corner by my house...
its also available at rite aid by my house
Most do still sell it as a remedy for accidental poisoning, but it was being used frequently as an aid for bulimics, so it is now kept behind the counter. You have to ask the pharmacist for it.