Will the TGA’s new proposal do enough to reduce vitamin B6 overdoses?
Associate Professor Joanna Harnett said patients could easily exceed the recommended daily intake of B6 without realising.
The TGA has proposed ‘pharmacist only’ scheduling for supplements containing 50mg or more of vitamin B6, but an expert says more is necessary to curb overdoses.
The TGA’s interim decision, published in June, followed concerns that patients taking a variety of supplements were unknowingly consuming excessive vitamin B6 doses.
GP Dr Mary Buchanan said a magnesium supplement she had taken for years had contributed to vitamin B6 toxicity, which left her struggling to walk 100 metres.
Associate Professor Joanna Harnett, from the University of Sydney’s School of Pharmacy, told AusDoc that people were finally questioning why vitamin B6 was an ingredient in so many supplements.
