‘I flatlined completely’: Woman’s near-death experience from cough medicine

Anaesthetists across Australia are campaigning for more than 50 cough medicines to become prescription only products.

The call follows fresh concerns that a common ingredient found in the over-the-counter medicines may trigger a potentially fatal reaction.

Narelle Campbell very nearly died after taking cough syrup, with doctors forced to break four ribs to bring the 52-year-old back to life.

Ms Campbell was in hospital for an operation for an aneurism, but she’d taken cough medicine in the lead up to her surgery.

“I flatlined completely – I was gone,” she told 9NEWS.

After being given general anaesthetic for her surgery, Ms Campbell had an allergic reaction triggered by pholcodine – the active ingredient in the cough medicine she’d taken earlier.

“Every three years we know there are at least seven deaths due to surgical anaphylaxis during anaesthesia,” said Australian New Zealand Anaesthetic allergy group’s Dr Paul McAleer.

“We believe pholcodine plays a part in de-sensitising some people to the effects of muscle relaxants in anaesthesia,” he said.

Suspicion was first raised in Norway in 2007 after authorities noticed they had 10 times the rate of deaths from anaesthesia than neighbouring Sweden, where this combination of drugs wasn’t available over-the-counter.

Since removing pholcodine from Norway’s shelves, anaphylaxis rates have plummeted.

The chemical, which is derived from opium, is found in almost 50 over the counter medicines including Duro-Truss, Difflam, Chemists Own and Benadryl.

It’s currently banned in the United States.

Anaesthetists lobbied the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in 2013 and again in 2015 to have the drug banned or at least made prescription only.

Both times their proposals were rejected.

“We want to try and remove it from shelves so de-sensitisation is less of a problem,” said Dr McAleer.

“We would say read the label and avoid the label and avoid things containing pholcodine it at all possible,” he said.

The TGA told 9NEWS an international review found evidence the link was weak, but it will continue to monitor the issue.