Co-proxamol

Below are the database queries which are used to create this measure. These are run against a copy of the BSA prescribing data which we store in Google BigQuery. We're working on making our BigQuery tables publicly available at which point it will be possible to run and modify these queries yourself. But even where code and database queries are not directly useable by others we believe it is always preferable to make them public.

Description Prescribing of co-proxamol per 1000 patients
Why it matters The licence for co-proxamol (paracetamol 325mg, dextroproproxyphene HCl 32.5mg) was withdrawn by the MHRA in 2005, due to a lack of evidence of additional benefit compared with full-dose paracetamol and concerns about toxicity in overdose. Although co-proxamol has been unlicensed since 2007, and the number of prescriptions have significantly dwindled since then, it is still available as an unlicensed product for those patients who have found it difficult to have a suitable alternative analgesic. However, co-proxamol is now very expensive: in November 2018 one box of 100 tablets cost up to £700, with a median price of £90/box.
Tags Standard, Cost Saving, Pain, Safety
Implies cost savings No
History View change history on GitHub →

Numerator SQL

SELECT
     CAST(month AS DATE) AS month,
     practice AS practice_id,
     SUM(items) AS numerator
 FROM hscic.normalised_prescribing
 WHERE bnf_code IN ("0407010Q0AAAAAA", "0407010Q0AAADAD")
 GROUP BY month, practice_id

Denominator SQL

SELECT
     CAST(month AS DATE) AS month,
     practice AS practice_id,
     SUM(total_list_size / 1000.0) AS denominator
 FROM hscic.practice_statistics
 GROUP BY month, practice_id
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