More medicines than ever can be bought without prescription, but do the benefits outweigh the harm?
The safety issues surrounding over-the-counter medicines will be discussed at the last in the current series of Caf茅 Scientifique talks taking place this Wednesday (May 11) at 7pm at Waterstone鈥檚 Union Bridge, Aberdeen.
Professor Phil Hannaford, NHS Grampian Chair of Primary Care and Head of Division of Applied Health Sciences at the 黑料网, and Dr Margaret Watson, Senior Research Fellow at the University, are the speakers at the free event.
Professor Hannaford said: 鈥淥ur talk will explain that there is a major move to get more medicines available over the counter - for many good reasons.
鈥淪afety, however, has to be paramount and there have been some examples where over-the-counter medicines can cause harm - sometimes because people who use them do not tell their healthcare professionals about such usage.
鈥淲e will look at the factors which influence the safety of medicines and will discuss how we can try and optimise drug safety.鈥�
Dr Watson added: 鈥淭he audience discussion will also give us a chance to highlight how members of the public can achieve the best safe use of over the counter medicines鈥�.
The Caf茅 Scientifique series is organised by the 黑料网 Public Engagement with Science team. The talks aresupported by a Science Engagement grant from the Scottish Government. For more information about the Caf茅 series please see: