Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
Gluten in Medications
I listened in on an informative webinar this week focused on gluten in medications. I’ve been so concerned with gluten in food that I hadn’t thought too far beyond baked goods.
Apart from avoiding foods containing wheat, barley, rye, and other grains, it’s also necessary for celiacs to ensure that medications they take are gluten free. This can include prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, nutritional supplements, and even mouthwash and cough drops.
Medications containing starches, “flavors,” and ingredients such as caramel coloring (which contains barley malt) can cause painful side effects in a celiac and may not be absorbed properly.
While pharmacists are starting to learn what constitutes "gluten" in a list of ingredients, many aren’t aware of the harm that even minuscule amounts of these unregulated ingredients can have on a celiac.
Often a pharmacist must contact the drug manufacturer to ask about ingredients and possible drug contamination (when a gluten-free drug is packaged alongside a drug containing gluten). It’s common for different lots of the same drug to have varying ingredients. Drugs are also reformulated quite frequently and the ingredients may change.
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) has teamed up with the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) to get the word out to pharmacists. See the organizations’ informational flyer here.
The best course of action for those concerned with gluten ingredients in medications-both prescription and over-the-counter-is to ask your pharmacist. If they aren’t sure, ask if they can contact the manufacturer. If you still can’t get answers, call the manufacturer yourself. You can also find more information on these websites: celiacmeds.com, celiaccentral.org