Keith Roach, M.D., syndicated columnist

DEAR DR. ROACH: Could you kindly tell me about the current status of paregoric? Has it been banned by the Food and Drug Administration? Is it available anywhere in the United States? I remember using this product occasionally as a teenager back in the 1960s. It was a miracle drug for stopping diarrhea, and it was available over the counter. Mothers would rub a little on their teething babies’ gums to ease pain.

Nowadays, I do not see paregoric mentioned on any schedules of drugs. Many pharmacists have never heard of it, although it appears to be available in other countries. I don’t understand why this drug that helped so many people is taken off the market. It certainly couldn’t be any more addictive than codeine, which is still widely available.

I’m 74 now and would like to have some paregoric on hand when I get diarrhea. — N.W.

ANSWER: Paregoric is a derivative of opium, sometimes referred to as the camphorated tincture of opium. Because of abuse, it was made a controlled substance in 1970. Although manufacturing stopped briefly, it is still available, and I suppose your pharmacist would get it if your physician ordered it. However, there are more effective and safer drugs for diarrhea (like loperamide and diphenoxylate-atropine), so paregoric is seldom prescribed.

Although they are reasonably safe and effective when used exactly as directed, these medicines can be deliberately abused and inadvertently given in excess, causing overdoses. Finally, the additional ingredients in paregoric, although traditional, probably don’t add any useful pharmacologic effects. The alcohol can even be harmful for some. Still, they are effective drugs and are occasionally used in unusual circumstances.

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