Increasing cases of side effects reported for painkillers: study

By Yun Suh-young

The number of reports on side effects from taking painkillers has increased in recent years.

According to research conducted by Korean Society for Pharmacoepidemiology and Risk Management (KOPERM), the cases of side effects caused by the Isopropylantipyrine (IPA), a substance in painkillers, increased from two in 2004 to 24 in 2008, to 47 in 2009 and 111 in 2010.

Of reported cases, 107 concerned side-effects from taking Geworin, accounting for 53 percent of the total.

IPA is a pain reliever. Side effects associated with it were the focus of controversy in 2008 after claims were made that it affects the blood.

In 2009, The Korea Food and Drugs Administration banned the issuance of subscriptions for it to children under the age of 15. It also requested research results to be submitted by March this year. However, as no specific conclusion was drawn from the results submitted this year, the KFDA requested another three years of research to be conducted on side effects of the substance.

Pharmacists claim that medicine containing the substance should not be sold in the first place.

There were approximately 174 types of medicine approved in Korea that contain the IPA substance. Since the controversy arose in 2008, the number reduced to eight, one of which is Geworin.

Meanwhile, the number of side effect cases from all medicines was recorded at 66,395 last year, a 23 percent increase from the previous year. The number of reports on the side effects of medicines has been steadily increasing since 2009 when a medicine watchdog, Pharmaco Vigilance Research Network, was established.