A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down? Perspectives on the use of sugar in children's medicines

This analysis examines the policy issues involved in the removal of sugar from paediatric medicines. It reports a study which investigates the perspectives of professionals, consumers, and the pharmaceutical industry. Interviews were conducted with: parents of children receiving long term medication, dental professionals involved in influencing policy or caring for such children, and drug companies who produce medication for long term use by children. Results showed that the parent group preferred the tablet over the liquid form of medication; this was also considered acceptable by the key dental professionals interviewed. The removal of sugar from liquid medicine (rather than the alternative use of smaller tablets) was not therefore a policy generally preferred by the groups involved in the issue. It was concluded that the singular concern of the dentist, doctors and pharmacists to remove sugar from liquid paediatric medicines was a reflection of their altruistic intentions. The limited biomedical perspective of clinically trained occupations prevented them from exploring the wider issues of the various needs of consumers. Thus, the analysis highlights the problems which have been introduced by professional dominance in the issue of medication caries.