Banning Cough Lozenges & Lemsip in Supermarkets Absurd

Medsafe’s Nanny state power play to ban cough remedies in supermarkets is absurd and does not draw on international evidence or common sense, says Katherine Rich, Chief Executive of the Food & Grocery Council.

The current consultation is fundamentally flawed, because the document being used to base these discussions is so full of factual errors and misrepresentations.

The impact of the proposal is extreme. Banning the sale of 70 cough/cold remedies from supermarkets and dairies will mean that New Zealanders pay up to 30-45% more for the same products in pharmacies. New Zealanders’ access to these products when they suffer coughs and colds will be dramatically reduced.

The Medicines Classifications Committee (MCC) needs to ensure its decision is informed by credible policy advice. The current discussion document does not provide this, and now has little credibility.

Putting aside issues of potential conflicts of interest, the Food & Grocery Council is more concerned by the fundamental errors and misrepresentations that riddle the Medsafe submission to the MCC.

Its submission has two main arguments: that the United Kingdom has made all these products “pharmacy only” (so New Zealand must automatically follow) and that this recommendation is supported by the Medsafe’s Cough and Cold Review Group. Both statements, which are used to add weight to the proposal, are factually wrong and misleading.

The United Kingdom has not banned the sale of adult formulations and products such as cough lozenges. Lemsip hot drinks and other cough/cold remedies for those over the age of twelve years remain freely available in supermarkets on general sale. The Brits certainly have not made all adult formulations “pharmacy only”, the extreme measure being proposed for New Zealand.

The Cough and Cold Review Group did not recommend a change; rather it referred the classification of certain actives to the MCC for consideration for children up to 12 years of age.

When the potential effect is to demolish a $30 million supermarket category, and make Kiwis pay significantly more, we expect that Medsafe’s analysis will be accurate, robust and based on factual evidence.

There is also another potentially embarrassing issue, which we doubt has been picked up. If the MCC supports this sales ban, it will reclassify a series of products which Medsafe only approved for general sale less than a year ago. This kind of regulatory flip-flop makes New Zealand look disorganised in terms of its regulatory processes.

We trust that common sense and due process will prevail when the MCC meets next month.