Prescribing Advice for GPs

Drug Safety Update, Issue 9

April 7, 2008 at 11:47 am | In Prescribing Extra - Other |  Print | 1 Comment

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has published Drug Safety Update Issue 9 (PDF).

This issue includes the following drug safety advice articles:

• Hormonal contraceptives: cervical cancer – latest evidence
• Combined hormonal contraceptives: venous thromboembolism – update
• Cyproterone acetate with ethinylestradiol (co-cyprindiol): recommended duration of use
• Carbamazepine: genetic testing in some Asian populations

In addition, this issue contains a hot topic containing information about the newly introduced Traditional Herbal Registration (THR) scheme. This scheme provides certain herbal medicines with a registration number that demonstrates the product has been assessed and met meet systematic standards of safety, quality, and patient information. Recommend indications are based on traditional usage rather than proven efficacy. A list of registered products is available on the MHRA website. Finally, there is a stop press section highlighting important safety issues that have arisen in the last month.

Action: Clinicians will find this publication to be a useful review of current issues in drug safety.