ArticlePharmacy (Basel, Switzerland)2022
Over-the-Counter Drug Misuse and Dependence: Public Health Ethics' Foray into Fight against the Codeine Crisis.
Article in Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Navigating Global Regulatory Divergence in Over-the-counter Drugs: Addressing Emerging Risks and Harmonization Challenges.Current drug research reviews · 2026Review
- A cross-sectional study on self-medication with over-the-counter drugs among adolescents: an analysis of current practices.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Illicit Trade of Prescription Medications Through X (Formerly Twitter) in Japan: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Codeine and promethazine: Exploratory study on "lean" or "sizzurp" using national survey data and an online forum.PloS one · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, such as codeine, are available as an OTC drug at common drugstores and major e-commerce platforms, despite their known propensity for causing psychological dependence and harm from overuse. Misuse of and dependence on over-the-counter drugs are serious public health issues. Possible measures include stricter regulation and control, as well as regulation of access to information and awareness activities, but their effectiveness is limited. Up-scheduling, in which OTC drugs are placed under prescription or full regulation, is expected to have a definite effect. However, up-scheduling poses public health ethical challenges. Up-scheduling restricts the freedom of consumers to purchase OTC drugs, and the economic right of manufacturers and sellers. Up-scheduling may also interfere with people's right to seek self-care through the proper use of OTC drugs. Limited up-scheduling with respect to age may be an effective way to implement up-scheduling while avoiding ethical issues. However, from a public health perspective, it is necessary to improve the information infrastructure so that prescription drug information can be shared electronically, and to strengthen measures to prevent mental health problems among young people that lead to OTC drug misuse, even after up-scheduling.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.