Why Is Meltus Adult Cough Mixture No Longer Available ?

[havelo]

Does anybody know why Meltus Adult Cough Mixture is no longer available in the shops ? I know it has been banned from sale, but I can not find out the real reason !

[woofgang]

this one?
http://www.rowlandspharmacy.co.uk/product/Meltus-Chesty-Coughs-Adult/100ml/

[havelo]

Thank you woofgang I know where I can buy one - I just wanted to know the reason for it being banned from sale .

[woofgang]

its not banned. If it was banned, it couldn’t be sold by online chemists either.

[Buenchico]

Many pharmacies no longer sell many (or all) forms of over-the-counter cough medicines, simply because the official NHS view is that they don't work:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/cough-medicines-a-waste-of-money-admits-nhs-9798049.html

[Old_Geezer]

Interesting. I've been expressing that view for many decades. Ever since, as a young lad, I'd be told, "Stop coughing, you've had cough mixture so you needn't keep coughing now", and I would become more desperate to hold it back. I think it's just psychological that folk thinks it works.

[Peter Pedant]

bit of a technical answer considering the above

Meltus contains two things - guaiphenesin and cety; pyridium
and guaifenesin is an antihistamine ( OK but good for coughs )
and cetyl pyridium is an antiseptic ( yes antiseptic I wondered why it was in a cough mixture )

and the bowler hatted men in strasbourg have got an opinion on this !
http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/consumer_safety/docs/sccs_o_171.pdf

why says it is safe but DOESN'T explain why it is in a cough mixture

Codeine Linctus available over the counter at a co operative chemist workdsVERY well ( my fave )

[Peter Pedant]

no Geezer cough is a reflex separate from other reflexes and
can be suppressed with suitable drugs ( and leaving other reflexes untouched ) and the droog to do this which springs to mind is codeine

and yes I rememebr being told I didnt have a cough and I was being contrary when I did cough
ahem ahem

[Sqad]

No PP....guaiphenesin isn't an antihistamine and acts by stimulating the secretion of mucous from the respiratory tract. it is usually, but now always combined with an antihistamine in cough medicines.
Melt us does not contain an antihistamine.

[Peter Pedant]

thx sqad
I thought guaiphenesin was in my parents formulary and wondered how it cd therefore be an antihistamine

the URl mentioned guiaphenesin and cetylpyridine

and this one boys and girls:

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/ear-nose-and-throat/a8048/adult-meltus-dry-coughs-with-congestion-temporarily-discontinued-in-the-uk/

mentions
dextromethorphan and pseudoephedrine.

so I think I will buck out of this discussion
on the excellent grounds of ignorance