Cough drops given out on NHS ‘may be a waste of money’ as no evidence is found that they speed up recovery
The findings, in the British Journal of General Practice, suggest GPs may be wasting millions of pounds of NHS cash
COUGH drugs given out on the NHS may be a waste of money, a study claims.
Researchers found no evidence they help clear the problem up. Instead, most coughs simply get better on their own.
The findings, in the British Journal of General Practice, suggest GPs may be wasting millions of pounds of NHS cash giving meds to patients who won’t get any benefit.
More than one in ten Brits suffer daily coughing fits. Coughs lasting three to eight weeks are called sub-acute, for which GPs often prescribe inhaled asthma drugs like salbutamol, fluticasone and budesonide.
But Basel University, Switzerland, found no good evidence they speed up recovery.
And nearly one in seven patients complained of side-effects. The Basel team pooled data from 700 patients.
They said: “We found no clear benefit associated with any of these treatments.”
Royal College of GPs Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard said: “Often GPs can do little to cure these types of coughs.”
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