Pharmacists' Association: Acetaminophen Codeine Is Being Rationed

Hadi Ahmadi, spokesman for the Iranian Pharmacists Association, told Khabar Online, in an interview republished by EcoIran on Friday, September 25, 2026 (3 Mehr 1405), that acetaminophen codeine has become scarce in pharmacies and is now being distributed to them in limited, rationed quantities. He said part of the drug's raw material used to come from narcotics seized inside Iran, and that since opium cultivation was banned in Afghanistan, seizures, and therefore access to the raw material, have declined.

Ahmadi said that in normal times the shortfall would be covered by importing the raw material, but land, air and sea routes as well as banking channels for transferring foreign currency now face restrictions, so caution is needed in managing and using medicines. According to Khabar Online, patients with prescriptions are having to visit several pharmacies to find the drug. The report comes a day after preferential currency for medicine was cut by $500 million to $3 billion.