Pharmacists should confront customers about their use of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, a pharmacy academic has argued, after his research revealed addicts were rarely challenged about drug abuse.

Although it may often be "a struggle" to identify potential OTC medicine addicts, pharmacists needed to ask their customers further questions if they felt their use was "becoming problematic", Richard Cooper, a pharmacist and lecturer in public health at Sheffield University, told C+D this week.

"Healthcare professionals need to be aware of the public support [for addicts]" Richard Cooper, Sheffield University	More news on OTC medicines addiction Chronic pain case studies Repeat OTC purchases Legal drug addiction - the facts MORE NEWS
	Dr Cooper suggested that pharmacists could give out leaflets about painkiller addiction and that pharmacy staff needed to be aware that OTC drug addicts were "everyday people".

His comments came after his study of 25 OTC medicine addicts, published in the BMJ on Monday (June 24), revealed that people who abused codeine as well as decongestant and sedative antihistamines had no problem in obtaining medicines.

His findings, some of which were published in 2011 by the Pharmacy Practice Research Trust, showed the patients, aged between 20 and 60 years, varied the pharmacies they used, with some keeping "schedules" to avoid detection and fabricating their responses to questions from staff.

Two of the participants were able to obtain "multiple quantities repeatedly" from internet pharmacies. However, when pharmacies had confronted them about their overuse of drugs, it had served as a "wake-up call" for some, the study revealed.

The study noted that the participants had not mentioned pharmacists as sources of treatment or support. However, Dr Cooper concluded that pharmacists and prescribers should ask potential addicts a range of questions about their medicine use, including whether the patient had ever taken more than the recommended dose or if their medicine use had affected their work or social life.

Speaking to C+D this week, Dr Cooper said: "My message is that healthcare professionals, prescribing doctors and hospital and community pharmacists need to be aware of the public support [for addicts].

"If these people want to remain under the radar, the nature of pharmacy could be a strength," he said.

Ravi Vaitha, manager of Kamsons Pharmacy, Crawley, West Sussex, said he would confront a patient's OTC medicines use if alerted by his counter staff to regular purchases. He would find a way to go into the consultation room to talk to his customer, he said.

Mr Vaitha said it would be worthwhile giving out leaflets and signposting sources of treatment. "It gets difficult; you don't want to make someone feel that they could get addicted," he added.

What is your approach when talking to possible addicts of OTC medicines? Comment below or email us at [email protected] You can also find C+D on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook