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Evening Standard comment: Victory for the Standard on opioids but more to do

Over the past week, this paper’s investigation has made clear the devastating effects of the nation’s increasing dependence on opioids; today we learn that it is now likely that UK regulators will oblige firms to display addiction warnings on packets of oral opioids.

We are proud of our part in achieving this landmark acknowledgement of the risks of excessive opioid use.

The investigation by our award-winning reporter, David Cohen, highlighted where the drugs come from, their effect and where the profits go.

One of its most startling findings was that none of the five strongest opioid products has any prominent addiction warnings on the packet or on the patient information leaflet, unlike in the US, where firms are legally obliged to have bold warnings, in capital letters, stating their “risk of addiction” on the outside of packets or prominently in the information leaflet.

In Britain, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency does not even require drug firms to give an explicit warning of the risks in the information leaflet inside the packet — so, not even in the small print.

This is obviously a welcome move towards belatedly alerting users to the risks inherent in these strong but often useless drugs.

As our investigation also made clear, in 90 per cent of cases they are worthless in relieving chronic pain. Yet they carry a risk of addiction, which outweighs whatever placebo effect they have.

Their cost to the NHS would justify the measure, quite apart from the morality of informing users about the very real risks.

But of course, this is only a first step.

What actually is needed is for doctors to prescribe fewer unnecessary opioids in the first place.

They are mostly aware of the limitations of the drugs’ effectiveness and of their dangers; and if they are not, they should be.

They should be as cautious of over-prescribing opioids as of over-prescribing antibiotics, or more so: at least antibiotics are not addictive.

Yet as Paul Flynn, the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependency, observed, “it’s a very great temptation for doctors to empty their waiting rooms by giving patients the stronger drugs that they crave.“

He also congratulated this paper on bringing to public attention the dangers of opioid misuse.

In other words, doctors must take responsibility for denying patients drugs that may not help them and can have a devastating effect on some users.

Saying no to patients may require painstaking explanations, whereas signing prescriptions takes seconds but that’s what they must do.

We applaud the move to explicit warnings on opioid packets but we need to change the culture of reflexive use.

The Evening Standard is going to continue with our investigations: this one has achieved real results already.

Mothers on the march

You could call it the March of the Mothers: the demonstration last night of 500 Camden residents, including many parents, against the terrifying incidence of knife crime in the borough.

The march, organised by Camden Against Violence, coincides with the publication of a report from the council which revealed that serious youth violence – involving anyone under 19 years – had increased by 70 per cent in the past 12 months; stabbings had increased from 44 to 87 in the same period.

There are, it says, no fewer than six active gangs in the borough, mostly engaged in drugs distribution.

Parents often feel impotent to protect their sons.

This march was a way of taking control by demonstrating the extent of public anger at what has happened in Camden.

It’s now for the local authority and the police to respond to their demands.

HM’s bucket list: item 2

The Queen is to fire the starting gun for the London marathon for the for the first time.

When she appeared on the front row for London Fashion Week, the Evening Standard speculated that at 91 she has a bucket list of things to do.

Is this another item on the list — and if so, what more can we expect from her?