Pharmacy Board Warns of Abuse of Cough Suppressant

The provincial Pharmacy Board has issued an alert notice to pharmacists about the possible improper use of products containing DM, such as most cough syrups. In early March, coroners in Quebec requested that pharmacists keep products containing the cough suppressant DM (dextromethorphan) behind the counter after the deaths of two men. They died within a month of each other, one from an overdose of cough syrup with DM, and the other who took cough syrup in combination with Prozac and the antibiotic Biaxin.

Board spokesperson Don Rowe says the common cough suppressant is safe when used appropriately, but is sometimes abused. He says young people are known to take DM products in large doses to get high. The Board recommends that if a pharmacist suspects inappropriate purchasing of DM products, then they should move them behind the counter for closer monitoring and control.

Rowe says a man from the Kilbride area called the board yesterday to report that he had found a large number of empty packages on his property, which once contained gelcaps. He says the man found between 40-60 packages of Robitussin DM Gelcap 20's scattered on the ground when cleaning up his property in the Old Petty Harbour Road/Kilbride area.

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Pharmacy Board Warns of Abuse of Cough Suppressant