November 4, 2006 on 1:21 pm | In Prescribing Extra - Other | 
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Discontinuation rates of statins in clinical practice are known to be high. Several studies in the USA, UK and Australia have shown that approximately half of all patients who are prescribed statins are non-compliant at 6 months and this continued to increase with about 30-40% of patients remaining compliant at one year.
A recent paper in the Archives of Internal Medicine has assessed the impact of non-compliance on mortality.
The study enrolled 1,521 patients who had recently had a myocardial infarction and were subsequently discharged with a prescription for aspirin, statin and beta-blocker. The patients were assessed for compliance to these prescribed medicines a month after discharge and data were collected for mortality up to 12 months.
At 1 month:
- 12.1% had stopped all three medicines
- 3.7% had stopped two of the three medicines
- 17.9% had stopped one of the medicines
- 66.3% were still taking all three
One-year survival in the group who took all three medicines was 97.7%, this dropped to 88.5% in those who stopped all three medicines.
Action: The consequence of non-compliance to prescribed medication is an increased risk of mortality. Clinicians should always consider compliance when reviewing patients but especially in those who are failing to reach blood pressure and lipid targets.
Copyright ©2006 Prescribing Advice for GPs
November 3, 2006 on 2:55 pm | In Prescribing Extra - Drugs | Print
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The manufacturer of Zoton® capsules (lansoprazole) has written to healthcare professionals to announce that this product is discontinued.
Lansoprazole is available as a generic product and this had led to a decline in demand and hence the discontinuation of this product. The generic capsules remain available. The FasTab® presentation of Zoton is unaffected by this announcement and remains available.
Action: Previously, Lansoprazole has been recommended as the first-line choice when a proton pump inhibitor is indicated. This advice is unchanged however prescriptions should be generated generically. Existing patients who are prescribed the brand product should be switched to a generic alternative.
Copyright ©2006 Prescribing Advice for GPs
November 2, 2006 on 1:40 pm | In Prescribing Extra - Drugs | Print
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The manufacturer of Rotarix®, a rotavirus vaccine, has written to healthcare professionals to highlight the route of administration for this product.
The majority of vaccines are administered via an injection but this product is an oral vaccine. There have been 20 reports worldwide of this vaccine being injected, but none of these cases are from the UK.
The vaccine is not currently part of the Childhood Immunisation Programme and therefore use in the UK is likely to be limited. This may explain why there are no reports of incorrect administration originating from the UK.
Action: This vaccine is unlikely to be widely used unless it becomes part of the Childhood Vaccination Programme but clinicians should take care to ensure the correct route of administration is used with all vaccines.
Copyright ©2006 Prescribing Advice for GPs
November 1, 2006 on 4:07 pm | In Prescribing Extra - Other | Print
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The NHS Direct website has been given a new look and feel.
The changes include:
The new Magazine will keep readers up-to-date with the latest health news and carries the ability for users to subscribe using RSS - much like this site. The RSS feed is located at:
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/rss/newshealthalertsrss.aspx.
Action: Many patients use NHS Direct as a first source for help and information. Clinicians may be interested in the content being provided.
Copyright ©2006 Prescribing Advice for GPs
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