Pharmacovigilance body for withdrawal of codeine drug

The Society of Pharmacovigilance India, a 450-member body covering doctors and pharmacists, will recommend the central government to withdraw moderate pain killer codeine sulphate from the Indian market due to serious side effects associated with its use.

Founding member of the society, KC Singhal, who is currently serving as the vice -chancellor of NIMS University, Rajasthan, said the issue would be taken up at the society’s 14th annual meeting in Aligarh, scheduled next month.

Speaking to Business Standard, Singhal said the Union government should make it mandatory for all the medical colleges in the country to establish pharmacovigilance centres, besides framing a policy for prescription monitoring across all the medical colleges, initially.     

Codeine sulphate is used to treat mild-to-moderate pain. It acts on certain centres in the brain and spinal cord to offer relief.

It is a narcotic pain reliever related to morphine. Among the prescribed pain killers, paracetamol is considered to be the safest drug.

Pharmacovigilance (PV or PhV), also known as drug safety, is the pharmacological science relating to the collection, detection, assessment, monitoring, and prevention of adverse effects associated with pharmaceutical products.