Smell of fish may put patients off diabetes drug

One of the most commonly used diabetes drugs, Metformin, has such an unpleasant odour that many people are put off using it altogether. However, researchers have made it clear that there are alternative formulations available, especially in the extended-relief versio, that have a milder odour.
According to the research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, experts say that those diabetes patients who simply can’t stand the smell should speak to their doctors about an alternative.
J. Russell May, a clinical professor at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy at the Medical College of Georgia was reported as commenting “Metformin is an excellent drug, but the immediate-release formulation may have an odor to it. The smell is fishy or like the inside of an inner tube, and in a patient’s mind, because it smells like something that has gone bad, they may think the drug isn’t good.”
The smell is described as being like ‘dead fish’ and has been reported as putting off diabetes patients.