I read in a Sunday paper "GPs have got Britain hooked on painkillers". This made me ask my mum about precisely what drugs she's taking for her aches and pains. To my alarm, she seems to be taking 12 paracetamol a day and also a load of Solpadol and Co-proxamol. Is this bad?

Yes. I don't think it's really true to say doctors have got Britain hooked on painkillers but, clearly, your mum is swallowing far too many tablets. The maximum dose of paracetamol is eight a day - and she's taking 12. That is really dangerous.

But what's alarming is she is also having Solpadol, which contains even more paracetamol. So does Co-proxamol. She is putting her health at serious risk. I suggest she takes immediate advantage of a service now offered by many Sussex chemists' shops, which is a careful review of all of a person's medicaments - plus advice as to what should be cut out.