The Public Relations and Security Media Department of the Ministry of Interior has warned against consuming adulterated Lyrica pills saying they contain ‘phenacetin’ – Phenacetin is a pain-relieving and fever-reducing drug — to raise the level of societal awareness of the seriousness of the scourge of drugs and psychotropic substances, especially among young people.
After examining and analyzing a large number of findings by the Laboratories of the Criminal Evidences Department it was proven that they are not Lyrica capsules, but rather capsules packed with phenacetin, which was used in human and veterinary medicine, but was prohibited. It has been in medical use since the seventies because it is highly toxic and carcinogenic, reports a local Arabic daily.
It has been reported that Phenacetin was widely used following its introduction in 1887. It was withdrawn from medicinal use as dangerous from the 1970s (withdrawn in Canada in 1973 and by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1983).
The sources added that these substances also affect the inability of the blood to carry oxygen in the blood, which damages the heart muscle and causes serious breathing problems and causes death.