Pharmacy bodies have backed MHRA guidance on OTC painkillers, which recommends limiting sales to two packs per customer.

The MHRA guidance, which is aimed at non-pharmacy retailers primarily, expands on previous suggested limits on paracetamol sales to include all pain relief, including ibuprofen.

Promotions that encourage patients to buy more than one pack of painkillers are also discouraged under guidelines issued last Thursday.

The recommended restrictions would prevent stockpiling and minimise overdose risk while treating patients in pain, said MHRA director of vigilance and risk management of medicines Dr June Raine.

However, the move met with resistance from Dorset pharmacist Mike Hewitson, who slammed the restrictions as “a nonsense” and “completely unworkable”.

NPA NHS liaison manager Gareth Jones supported the MHRA guidance, adding the organisation would be happy to work to implement the rules.

RPSGB director of policy and communications David Pruce also backed the recommendations, adding pharmacists should use their professional judgment in sales if they believe a patient requires more than two packs.

In June, the RPSGB called for a change in the law over OTC analgesics sales, following the revelation discount chain Poundland were offering three packets of 16 paracetamol tablets for one pound.

Legally, retailers may sell up to 100 tablets or capsules of non-effervescent paracetamol or aspirin in one transaction. There is no legal limit on the amount of ibuprofen that may be sold.

Current guidance

• No more than two packs of analgesics in total should be sold in one transaction
• Do not use offers to encourage the sale of more than one pack of pain relief
• RPSGB currently recommends pharmacists “use their professional judgement” for sales of more than 32 paracetamol tablets