Tablets from the car – Newspaper Kommersant No. 147 (7348) of 08/15/2022
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The Ministry of Internal Affairs approved the idea of the head of the Moscow State traffic inspectorate, Alexander Bykov, to label drugs that are incompatible with driving a car (Corvalol, Valordin and others). Now the restrictions are indicated only in the instructions, while the police believe that the packaging should have bright symbols – for example, a red circle with a crossed-out car. The warning will not affect drivers, experts say, just as scary inscriptions and pictures on cigarette packs do not stop smokers. The introduction of labeling will become an “additional burden” for pharmaceutical manufacturers and may affect the price of medicines, market participants say.
“The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs conceptually supports the introduction of special marking on packages of medicines and the creation of a list of medicines that affect the ability to drive vehicles,” the press service of the police told TASS on Saturday. Let us recall that for many years the agency has been looking for ways to exclude from the movement of motorists who drive under the influence of drugs and intoxicating substances taken as prescribed by a doctor or to obtain the effect of taking drugs (for example, phenobarbital contained in Corvalol). Traffic rules equate the use of “drugs that impair reaction and attention” to the state of alcohol or drug intoxication, but it is more difficult to control their intake due to the complexity of the procedure, which Kommersant has repeatedly talked about. Doctors, in particular, according to the current rules, cannot make a conclusion about the state of intoxication (the court relies on it) when drugs are found in the blood or urine, even at very high concentrations.
In July 2022, the head of the traffic police in Moscow, Alexander Bykov, proposed labeling drugs that are incompatible with driving (now restrictions and recommendations not to drive are only written in the instructions). “Let’s at least draw a red circle on the packaging, a typewriter and cross it out so that people, when buying medicines, understand,” he said. The traffic police proposed this idea to the Ministry of Health, but it is not known whether there was a reaction to this initiative. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, supporting the idea of Mr. Bykov, told TASS that “the issue of informing drivers about the content of alcohol, narcotic and toxic drugs, as well as other substances that cause intoxication in medicines, remains relevant.” According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the six months of 2022, 71 (35.5% less than a year earlier) accidents were registered in the Russian Federation due to the fault of drivers under the influence of drugs, in which 18 people died (-10% compared to a year ago), 97 injured (-44.9%). In April, the Research Center for Road Safety of the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a manual for inspectors on identifying drunk drivers, including after using drugs. As Kommersant reported, the training manual mentions drugs such as codeine, cyclomed, tropicamide, pregabalin, baclofen, etc. – their use by a driver can cause an intoxicating effect. The inspectors may have learned from the handbook that, for example, non-medical use of benzodiazepines and barbiturates causes the motorist’s skin to become pale and greasy, speech becomes slurred, and staggering may occur when walking.
“At first glance, the idea is sound,” Viktor Travin, president of the Moscow Board of Legal Protection of Car Owners, comments on the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “Many drivers take something without realizing that it affects their ability to drive a car. On the other hand, do scary inscriptions and pictures on cigarette packs stop smokers? Never”. It is necessary that potent drugs, in principle, do not fall into the hands of drivers, the expert believes: “For this, the doctor must ask the patient if he is driving a car. And if he manages, explain the prohibition of driving or prescribe something easier that does not affect the concentration of attention. Another question is, what if a citizen needs some kind of potent or sedative medicine, maybe in principle he does not need to drive at least until the end of treatment?
In Russia, there are no studies on how certain drugs affect driving, as well as on how many accidents happen after using certain drugs, says Viktor Dmitriev, general director of the Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. Therefore, if the Ministry of Health undertakes to compile such a list, it will be subjective, he adds: “It is clear that drugs containing narcotic substances and sedatives will be included, but there are, for example, modern antiallergic drugs that have a minimal sedative effect. Does this mean that all allergy sufferers should not drive? In any case, the introduction of special labeling will become an additional burden for pharmaceutical manufacturers and will affect the price of such drugs, Mr. Dmitriev believes.
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