Closed petition Prevent the sale of painkillers to children!

Closed on 15 September 2013

There is currently no national minimum age to purchase over the counter painkillers, there is only a restriction on how many packs you can purchase.

My 15 year old recently purchased 2 packs of painkillers from Tesco Supermarket and took an overdose. She was hospitalized for 3 days and was given an antidote over 21 hours due to high levels of paracetamol in her blood.

My daughter was not challenged once. Tesco have since confirmed that they have no instore policy restricting the sale, any child could purchase them. Sainsburys is 16, Asda 18, Morrisons have no minimum, Coop is 12. This could happen to another family if a change isn't made.

I want to see a national restriction on the sale of pain killers to children and young people, for them to be over the counter, not off of a supermarket shelf for less than 20p, an amount a child could also afford easily and via a system of self service that a desperate person also could easily take advantage of if unchallenged.