Nurofen pain relievers targeting specific types of pain are seen on a pharmacy shelf in Sydney, Australia December 14, 2015. An Australian court has ordered British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser to pull several of its Nurofen pain relief ranges from the market after finding its claims the products attacked particular types of pain was misleading. REUTERS/Jason Reed
The Nurofen owners have been fined (Picture: Reuters)

You can’t actually target a specific area of pain with Nurofen tablets.

Owners Reckitt Benckiser were today ordered to pay 1.7 million Australian dollars (£888,000) in penalties after an Australian court ruled the company misled consumers about the effectiveness of the popular painkiller.

The Federal Court ruled in December the company had deceived people by selling Nurofen painkillers that were marketed to relieve specific ailments, such as back pain and period pain, when all of the products contained an identical amount of the same active ingredient, ibuprofen lysine.

The court ordered the company to change the packaging of the products to make it clear what they could be used for.

Affected products

Nurofen Back Pain

Nurofen Period Pain

Nurofen Migraine Pain

Nurofen Tension Headache

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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which launched the court action, had asked the court to impose a AU$6 million penalty on the company, arguing consumers had been tricked into unnecessarily paying more for the drugs.

The consumer watchdog said the price of the specific pain products was nearly double that of Nurofen’s standard ibuprofen painkiller and other general pain relief products sold by competitors.

In issuing the fine today, Justice James Edelman acknowledged the company’s actions may have had a negative financial effect on consumers, but said the products had not caused anyone physical harm.

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How much is Nurofen in the UK?

Boots website doesn’t advertise all the specific products mentioned in the Australian case. But it lists prices as follows:

Nurofen (16 200mg tablets): £2

Nurofen Tension Headache: (12 342mg tablets): £2.85

Nurofen Migraine Pain (12 342mg caplets): £2.85

Nurofen Express Period Pain (16 liquid capsules): £3.79

How does that compare with other painkillers?

Boots Paracetamol (16 500mg tablets): 45p

Boots Asprin (32 300mg tablets): 55p

Cuprofen (generic ibuprofen – 24 200mg tablets): £1.39

Reckitt Benckiser has since changed the packaging for its specific pain line to indicate the drugs are also effective for general pain relief.

In a statement the company said it had not meant to mislead the public.

‘However, we recognize that we could have done more to assist our consumers in navigating the Nurofen Specific Pain Range,’ it said.

‘That is, to show that each of the products in the range is equally effective for the other pains indicated on the Nurofen Specific Pain Range packaging.’

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