Staying Sober

U.K. Drinkers to Get Daily Alcohol Pill

That reduces dependency.

In Britain tens of thousands of people who drink more than three glasses of wine a night are to be given a pill to reduce their dependence on alcohol. Middle-class drinkers who do not think they have a problem are seriously damaging their health, the country’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence said. The institute issued guidance saying that people who drink too much would be eligible for a daily tablet through the National Health Service if they struggled to cut down on their own. The drug, Nalmefene, also called Selincro, which costs about $4.70 a day, reduces people’s urge to drink and has been shown to cut alcohol consumption by almost two-thirds after six months. Estimates suggest that in England alone, alcohol-related harm costs the NHS about $5.5 billion a year.