Why can't you buy licorice tablets and red potions?

Many things carry memories of the past, have you ever found that the medicine that accompanied you to grow up has quietly disappeared in the past 20 years!

I still remember when I was sick when I was a child, I watched my parents take out colorful medicines from the medicine box at home, and they were coaxed into pinching their noses to eat them.

Source: Calle Pictures. Photo by Ning Ying

Licorice tablets, red syrup, oxytetracycline, yeast tablets...... These once-familiar, cheap and easy-to-use drugs seem to be fading out of the public eye. It is difficult to find not only in pharmacies, but also online. Among the drugs that disappeared into the long river of time, did you have your childhood?

Compound licorice tablets: the yellow flower of tomorrow in the cough industry

Compound licorice tablets are a childhood nightmare for many people, parents stuff two black tablets into their mouths, "Hold it! Don't vomit!", and that special strange smell must be remembered by many people now.

The main ingredients of compound licorice tablets are opium powder, licorice extract powder, camphor, star anise oil, etc., among which the role of opium is the central antitussive, but it also has another creepy translation: opium.

Although the dose of opioid powder is small, long-term consumption can be addictive to the body. After eating, the body will have a sense of lightness, dependence, and longing, and when you don't take medicine, you will have cold sweats, yawning, runny nose, and even different degrees of mental malaise and irritability. For the sake of a cough, it is too much to take the fierce medicine of opioids.

In 2020, in order to further ensure the safety of drug use, the Food and Drug Administration issued the "Announcement on Revising the Instructions of Compound Licorice Tablets", which further revised the adverse reactions and precautions of drugs. Therefore, a specific doctor's certificate is required to purchase compound licorice tablets.

Oxytetracycline, red potion, purple potion: the three national miracle medicines

From the 50s to around 2010, oxytetracycline, red syrup, and purple syrup were commonly used medicines, and most families had them. Oxytetracycline is an oral antibiotic, and red and purple syrups are anti-inflammatory for trauma. These three drugs have accompanied several generations and engraved into the memories of many people, and are known as the "three national miracle drugs". However, it is not available in pharmacies now.

Nowadays, oxytetracycline is mainly used in veterinary use, and is still common in pets and animal husbandry. The problem with oxytetracycline is that it has a lot of side effects and affects all aspects of the body. In particular, it is easy to produce vomiting and diarrhea, which has clear toxic side effects and damage to the liver and kidneys, and may also cause diseases of the blood system and nervous system. Another well-known side effect of oxytetracycline is tooth damage, which has caused many "tetracycline teeth".

The problem of red syrup is mainly mercury, which is easy to cause allergic reactions and mercury poisoning, especially for large wounds, red syrup is prohibited, the more you apply, the greater the risk of mercury poisoning, and red syrup is clearly forbidden to be shared with iodine tincture, which will produce highly toxic substances and endanger health. In addition, the antibacterial and penetrating power of red potion is very weak, and the anti-inflammatory effect is unstable.

Purple syrup is not sensitive to gram-negative bacilli, so it cannot be used for deep wound infection, and purple syrup has an astringent effect, which makes the wound crust hard, affects the discharge of exudate, and aggravates inflammation. In addition, the purple potion has a strong dyeing effect, and sometimes it has a "tattoo" effect on the wound, which is difficult to eliminate.

Alternatives to oxytetracycline, mainly cephalosporins or quinolones, should be used strictly according to the doctor's instructions. Red syrup and purple syrup substitute medicines, mainly iodine wine, iodophor and hydrogen peroxide, are mainly used to treat wounds, and they should also be used according to the doctor's instructions.

Yeast tablets: Margins are too low and are snubbed by pharmacies

As a common medicine to aid digestion, "dry yeast tablets" priced at 0.9 yuan are hard to buy in pharmacies. Most of the drugs recommended by the clerk are such as "stomach digestion tablets" and "lactobacillus tablets", and some pharmacy clerks said that the manufacturer no longer produces such cheap drugs, and the pharmacy cannot buy them.

However, the yeast flakes manufacturer said that the yeast flakes were not discontinued, nor were they reduced, and the normal production was carried out according to market demand, and the drug was snubbed by pharmacies mainly because of "low profits". However, the manufacturer is still insisting on the production of the drug, although the sales of pharmacies are average, but because the drug is common to humans and animals, the development of the breeding industry has also maintained sales.

Analgin: The predecessor of the fever reduction world

Anandamide, a white pill, is an antipyretic and antipyretic that has been on the market since 1922, and its main ingredients are aminopyrine and sodium sulfite. In addition to reducing fever, it can also relieve headaches, muscle pain, joint pain, and menstrual cramps.

However, as people learn more and more about analgin, they have also discovered its shortcomings, such as it may cause serious blood diseases, resulting in a decrease in white blood cells and decreased immunity of health guards in the body, and eventually it is easy to induce a variety of infections.

Fortunately, a new generation of fever and painkillers were also popularized at this time, that is, ibuprofen and acetaminophen, which we commonly use now, have similar effects to anandamide, but have better safety.

Vitamin C Yinqiao tablets: not directly related to colds

This medicine is a type of Chinese patent medicine, and many people will use it for the treatment of colds and sore throats. It is undeniable that vitamin C Yinqiao tablets can be used to dispel wind and detoxify, clear heat and detoxify, but there is no direct causal relationship between it and colds. Some of the Western medicine ingredients in it may also be dangerous to health when taken blindly.

As soon as many people hear vitamin C Yinqiao tablets, they think that they are Chinese patent medicines, and misunderstand that Chinese medicine is safe and has no side effects, so they take it without authorization. However, it is essentially a combination of Chinese and Western medicines, in addition to containing 11 kinds of traditional Chinese medicines, it also contains acetaminophen and chlorpheniramine maleate, two Western medicine ingredients, and some vitamin C Yinqiao tablets even contain banned Western medicine ingredients "phenacetin" and "aminopyrine", so it was listed as banned by the Hong Kong Department of Health as early as June 2013. Vitamin C Yinqiao Tablets have also had many safety problems due to the production process of traditional Chinese medicine ingredients.

Phenolphthalein tablets: an old acquaintance in the laxative world

Phenolphthalein tablets, a boon for people with constipation. When you were a child, you didn't like to eat vegetables, and you often didn't poop for a few days, and you might be fed this little pill by your parents. It stimulates your bowels and transports all the accumulated poop out quickly.

But more and more people are discovering that taking phenolphthalein tablets when they are constipated is indeed useful, and they can quickly get rid of it, but once they don't eat it, this poop is like concrete, and it can't come out of the stomach. I can't stop eating, and the consequences are very bad.

Researchers around the world have gradually discovered that long-term consumption of phenolphthalein tablets may also lead to intestinal dysfunction and electrolyte disorders. In 2021, mainland regulators deemed that the risks of using phenolphthalein tablets outweighed the benefits, and stopped the production, sale and use of phenolphthalein tablets.

Cheap drugs have low returns and no one makes them, and products are also being upgraded

Some industry insiders said that some old drugs have been eliminated from the market because of upgrading, and some drugs have relatively large side effects, so they are restricted from purchasing. In a sense, the disappearance of cheap old drugs is a dominant trend and the inevitable result of commodity upgrading. Only by constantly upgrading products can we better meet the needs of consumers. The price increase of products is often accompanied by the improvement of quality and the renewal of performance, which is the embodiment of social progress.

On the other hand, the cost of raw materials is increasing, and the cost of labor is increasing...... Compared with the past, the operating cost has increased significantly, and some drugs are limited by the price of APIs, lack of independent pricing power, and can only maintain the price level of decades ago, unable to maintain normal production and sales, and naturally unable to generate enthusiasm. This is also an important reason why cheap old drugs continue to disappear.

(Perspective Society Comprehensive Workers' Daily, "China Pharmacy" magazine, Popular Science China Report)

Editor: Liu Songling

Proofreader: Li Xuying

Review: Gong Zimo