Pharmacists’ warning over millions wrongly labelled with penicillin allergy

Pharmacists have warned that millions of people wrongly believe they are allergic to penicillin, meaning they take longer to recover after an infection.

Research suggests that around four million people in the UK have the drug allergy on their medical record, but when tested, 90 per cent of them are not allergic.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society says a significant number of people confuse antibiotic side effects with an allergic reaction.

Common allergic symptoms include a raised rash, swelling and itchy skin, and possibly nausea, breathlessness, coughing, diarrhoea and a runny nose.  However, antibiotics can themselves cause diarrhoea or nausea and the underlying infection can also lead to a rash.

This means that people often mistakenly believe they are allergic to penicillin, which is in many common antibiotics.

Tase Oputu from the RPS, said “Many individuals are at low or very low risk of having a genuine penicillin allergy and we often find that after careful investigation that they can take penicillin safely.”

The charity Allergy UK said many people had a label of penicillin allergy from early childhood that could be carried with them for the rest of their life without ever being investigated.

Clinical services head Amena Warner said “There is now a national effort to look into this and the best way to approach it.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (jacquelinevance@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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