{"id":176807,"date":"2025-06-11T22:33:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T22:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/176807\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T22:33:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T22:33:09","slug":"popular-laxatives-found-to-contain-wrong-dose-instruction-and-children-could-be-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/176807\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular laxatives found to contain WRONG dose instruction &#8211; and children could be at risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>PARENTS are being alerted after popular laxatives were found to have a potentially dangerous labelling error.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Boxes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/health\/29683905\/common-medicines-never-mix-with-caffeine-bleeds-psychosis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dulcolax<\/a>, which should only be taken by adults, wrongly suggest they\u2019re suitable for kids aged 12 and over.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Dulcolax Adult 5mg gastro-resistant tablets for occasional constipation.\" height=\"400\" width=\"400\" data-credit=\"Dulcolax\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dulcolax-adult-5mg-gastro-resistant-1002115880.jpg\" data-caption=\"Dulcolax Adult 5mg gastro-resistant tablets have been hit by a labeling error.\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dulcolax-adult-5mg-gastro-resistant-1002115880.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>1<\/p>\n<p>Dulcolax Adult 5mg gastro-resistant tablets have been hit by a labeling error.Credit: Dulcolax<\/p>\n<p>The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which issued the <a aria-label=\"alert (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/drug-device-alerts\/class-4-medicines-defect-notification-dulcolax-adult-5-mg-gastro-resistant-tablets-opella-healthcare-uk-el-25-a-slash-26\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">alert<\/a>, said the printing blunder is not &#8220;expected&#8221; to cause harm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on the safety assessment, it was concluded that there is no harm expected to children who may have taken this medication,\u201d the watchdog said.<\/p>\n<p>The tablets themselves are safe. But the instructions could lead to kids taking them without proper advice.<\/p>\n<p>Dulcolax Adult 5mg gastro-resistant tablets contain 5mg of bisacodyl &#8211; a common over-the-counter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/health\/31744477\/how-normal-poo-goldilocks-zone-tips-constipation\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">constipation<\/a> treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Read more on constipation<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a separate version called Dulcolax Twelve Plus for kids aged 12 and over.<\/p>\n<p>It has the same 5mg dose as the adult tablets. But it\u2019s only available from a pharmacist, who can give advice on the right way to use it for children.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because their bodies handle medicine differently, and experts can ensure they will take the right dose and only at the right time.<\/p>\n<p>Dulcolax Adult 5mg gastro-resistant tablets are available over-the-counter, meaning any adult can buy them without a prescription or pharmacist advice.<\/p>\n<p>The batch codes to look out for are 240908, 240909, 241873, 241875, 250222, 250307, and 250308. You can find these numbers on the packaging.<\/p>\n<p>The affected batches have an expiry date of the 30 and 31 of May 2027 and were distributed this year.<\/p>\n<p>The 3-minute tummy massage to ease bloating, constipation and trapped wind<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Adult patients should continue to take medicines from the impacted batches,&#8221; the MHRA wrote, in the alert published yesterday (June 10).<\/p>\n<p>The quality of the product is not affected which is why the products are not being recalled and will remain to be available for sale.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is an error on the back of the carton, this product is only intended for use by adults (18 years and over) and should not be used in children (under the age of 18).&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Some boxes have already been distributed to pharmacies and shops, but future stock will only be sent to pharmacies and healthcare stores until the packaging is corrected.<\/p>\n<p>Adults are advised to keep taking the tablets as normal, following the leaflet inside the pack &#8211; which contains the correct instructions.<\/p>\n<p>People who experience adverse reactions or have any questions about their medication should seek medical attention. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Any suspected adverse reactions should also be reported via the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">MHRA Yellow Card scheme<\/a>,&#8221; the alert said.<\/p>\n<p>Normal for you<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content--intro\">When it comes to going for a number two, plenty of people aren\u2019t really sure what\u2019s normal.<\/p>\n<p>Keeping an eye on what&#8217;s &#8216;normal&#8217; for you though is crucial, as is being aware of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/health\/1868520\/bowel-cancer-symptoms-signs-causes-screening\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">signs and symptoms of bowel cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The five red-flag symptoms of bowel cancer include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bleeding from the back passage, or blood in your poo<\/li>\n<li>A change in your normal toilet habits &#8211; going more frequently for example<\/li>\n<li>Pain or a lump in your tummy<\/li>\n<li>Extreme tiredness<\/li>\n<li>Losing weight<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you notice any changes to your usual habits, don&#8217;t be embarrassed, speak to your GP.<\/p>\n<p>And if you are eligible for a bowel cancer testing kit, make sure to do on.<\/p>\n<p>The Sun launched the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/topic\/no-time-2-lose\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">No Time 2 Lose campaign<\/a>\u00a0in April 2018 &#8211; to call on the Government to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/news\/10141938\/nhs-bowel-cancer-test-screening-at-50-sun-campaign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lower the bowel cancer screening age to 50<\/a>\u00a0and raise symptom awareness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As a result, people in their 50s have started being invited for screenings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARENTS are being alerted after popular laxatives were found to have a potentially dangerous labelling error. Boxes of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[1389,105,426,4326,3912,117,437,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-176807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-children-parenting-and-family-life","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-health-warnings","11":"tag-medication","12":"tag-medicine","13":"tag-parenting-advice","14":"tag-section-healthnews-health","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114667113970632687","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}