Pill that claims to prevent hangovers

US import to be marketed as dietary supplement amid concern by campaigners that it will encourage irresponsible drinking

James Meikle, health correspondent
Saturday April 17, 2004
The Guardian
 

A tablet which US manufacturers claim will prevent hangovers is to go on sale in British shops this summer.
The arrival of RU-21 is already sparking a debate over whether it might simply encourage binge drinking. British law will not allow its distributors to make health claims until they have proved its efficacy in trials.

The tablets, which will sell at around £5 for 20, should be taken at a rate of one for each drink.

They will be marketed as over-the-counter dietary supplements, with the hope that their reputation for preventing the morning-after feeling - promoted on several US websites - will help to stack up sales.

A big advertising campaign, possibly including television and radio, will accompany the product's launch in June.

But the charity Alcohol Concern said it would be concerned "at any attempt to portray the product as a miracle cure for hangovers, given its reputation in the US and this country's penchant for binge drinking."

A spokesman, Lee Lixenberg, added: "Anything that encourages people to drink too much is bad news considering there are already 8 million heavy drinkers and 3 million dependent on alcohol. Our advice to anyone trying to escape a hangover is to stick to the medically recommended limits - two to three units a day for women and three to four units for men."

The Portman Group, sponsored by drink companies to promote responsible drinking, was at least as sceptical. "This alleged miracle pill is totally unproven and people might as well eat Smarties. At least they will taste nicer. The only way to prevent a hangover is to make sure you don't drink too much."

RU21 Ltd, the company distributing the pills, named after the minimum legal drinking age in the US, says it has spoken to medical, advertising and trading standards watch dogs in the UK, and plans to start trials in this country to establish the hangover claims as soon as possible. Packaging will include exhortations to drink in moderation.

Derry Kenneally, managing director, said the product was "one of the most exciting new dietary supplements to be launched in the UK for years. Spirit Sciences, the California-based manufacturer, says the pill will "balance alcohol metabolism" by slowing down a process by which alcohol is transformed into acetaldehyde. This has been linked to cancers, liver cirrhosis, brain damage, sexual problems, and premature ageing of the skin, as well as hangovers.

The supplement is said to have been developed at the Russian Academy of Sciences. The KGB wanted a drug that would allow its agents to drink opponents under the table without getting drunk themselves.