# Why thousands taking the viral £1.20 ‘panic pill’ could face serious complications: It’s billed as taking ‘the edge off’ midlife anxieties. Now, experts lay out every risk YOU need to know

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/why-thousands-taking-the-viral-1-20-panic-pill-could-face-serious-complications-its-billed-as-taking-the-edge-off-midlife-anxieties-now-experts-lay-out-every-risk-you-need-to-know/
- Published: 2026-11-04T12:04:14+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T12:25:39+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/health/article-16262153/viral-panic-pill-danger-experts-risks.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Trending, Weird & Viral, World

## Key points

- Experts want clearer guidance on propranolol for anxiety.
- A study recorded 35 deaths among 363 reported intentional overdoses.
- UK GP prescriptions reached 8.4 million in the year to June 2026.

## Summary

Medical and pharmacy organisations are calling for tougher UK guidance on propranolol, a beta blocker increasingly prescribed to ease anxiety symptoms. They say it can carry serious risks, particularly in overdose, and worry that patients may regard it as a harmless quick fix.

A study of 363 intentional overdoses reported to poison specialists in 2022 and 2023 recorded 35 deaths; among cases where the original reason for taking the medicine was known, more than nine in ten involved an anxiety prescription. UK GP practices dispensed 8.4 million prescriptions in the year to June 2026, nearly 5 per cent more than in the previous year. NICE is being asked to clarify its guidance, and the medicines regulator is investigating whether propranolol should remain licensed for anxiety.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.