Compound analgesic

Compound analgesics are those with multiple active ingredients; they include many of the stronger prescription analgesics.

Active ingredients that have been commonly used in compound analgesics include:

• aspirin
• caffeine
• codeine or oxycodone
• paracetamol (acetaminophen)
• phenacetin

Several such formulations have disappeared from over-the-counter status in drug store aisles and other retail outlets. One example is APC (aspirin, phenacetin, and caffeine) compound tablets common from the 1940s to 1983; because of harmful side effects of phenacetin, Anacin in the U.S. was reformulated to eliminate it, and Bex,^{[lower-alpha 1]} an Australian cultural icon, is no longer sold. Some others have been judged to contribute too often to substance abuse.^{[citation needed]}

The United States Food and Drug Administration also now requires that manufacturers of compound analgesics unequivocally state each ingredient's purpose.^{[citation needed]}

Footnotes

References

External links

• APC definition and brief history.
• Bex packaging history at the Powerhouse Museum website.