☀️     🌓

Prescribing Advice for GPs

An NHS Prescribing Advisers' Blog

NICE Guidance - July 2015

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have published new guidance for the month of July 2015. This month there is one technology appraisal that impacts upon primary care.

The naloxegol technology appraisal recommends this treatment as an option people with opioid induced constipation that has had an inadequate response to laxatives.

Action: Clinicians should be aware of this month's new guidance and implement any necessary changes to practice.

Share 'NICE Guidance - July 2015' by emailShare 'NICE Guidance - July 2015' on FacebookShare 'NICE Guidance - July 2015' on TwitterShare 'NICE Guidance - July 2015' on MastodonShare 'NICE Guidance - July 2015' on LinkedInShare 'NICE Guidance - July 2015' on reddit

Drug Safety Update - July 2015

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has published Drug Safety Update for July 2015 (PDF).

Patient reminder cards about the risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw are being introduced for Denosumab (Prolia®, Xgeva®) and intravenous bisphosphonates. Additionally, denosumab 120mg (Xgeva®) is now contraindicated in patients with unhealed lesions from dental or oral surgery.

The Xalatan® formulation of latanoprost has recently been changed such that the pH is now 6.0 compared to 6.7 previously. This change allows for longer term storage at room temperature however it has also been associated with an increase in reporting of eye irritation. Patients as advised to tell their health professional promptly (within a week) if they have eye irritation (e.g. excessive watering) severe enough to make them consider stopping treatment.

There is a new App for reporting adverse drug reactions via a yellow card for both the iOS and Android platforms.

Finally this month there is a summary of letters sent to healthcare professionals in June 2015, including one for the oral anticoagulant edoxaban.

Action: Clinicians should be aware of this month's new guidance and implement any necessary changes to practice.

Share 'Drug Safety Update - July 2015' by emailShare 'Drug Safety Update - July 2015' on FacebookShare 'Drug Safety Update - July 2015' on TwitterShare 'Drug Safety Update - July 2015' on MastodonShare 'Drug Safety Update - July 2015' on LinkedInShare 'Drug Safety Update - July 2015' on reddit

SMC Update - July 2015

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has issued its monthly advice on newly licensed medicines.

Adalimumab (Humira®) has been accepted for restricted use in the treatment of severe chronic plaque psoriasis in children and adolescents from 4 years of age who have had an inadequate response to or are inappropriate candidates for topical therapy and phototherapies. The restriction limits use individuals with severe disease as defined by a total Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score of ≥10 and a Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) of >10.

Riociguat (Adempas®) has been accepted for restricted use in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) as monotherapy or in combination with endothelin receptor antagonists in adult patients with World Health Organisation Functional Class (WHO FC) II to III to improve exercise capacity. It is restricted to initiation and prescribing by specialists in the Scottish Pulmonary Vascular Unit or by similar specialists.

Rivaroxaban (Xarelto®) has been rejected for the prevention of atherothrombotic events in adult patients after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) with elevated cardiac biomarkers in combination with aspirin alone or with aspirin plus clopidogrel or ticlopidine. The submitting company did not present a sufficiently robust economic analysis to gain acceptance by SMC.

Action: Clinicians should be aware of the recommendations of the SMC. Routine use of rejected and restricted medicines should be avoided.

Share 'SMC Update - July 2015' by emailShare 'SMC Update - July 2015' on FacebookShare 'SMC Update - July 2015' on TwitterShare 'SMC Update - July 2015' on MastodonShare 'SMC Update - July 2015' on LinkedInShare 'SMC Update - July 2015' on reddit

Meningococcal B Vaccination Information

Public Health England has published information for healthcare professionals about the introduction of immunisation against meningococcal B disease for infants aged from 2 months with effect from September 2015.

The aim of the vaccination (Bexsero®) is to reduce the burden and severity of invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis capsular B in the UK by protecting those at increased risk of disease. Starting on the 1st September 2015 all infants born on or after the 1 July 2015 will be eligible for the meningococcal B vaccine which will be administered together with the other primary immunisations at 2 months, 4 months and 12 months. There will also be a catch-up programme for infants born from 1st May 2015 to the 30th June 2015.

Action: Clinicians should be aware of these changes to the national vaccination programme. Anyone involved with the delivery of the vaccination programme should ensure they familiar with the new vaccine and the proposed catch-up programme.

Share 'Meningococcal B Vaccination Information' by emailShare 'Meningococcal B Vaccination Information' on FacebookShare 'Meningococcal B Vaccination Information' on TwitterShare 'Meningococcal B Vaccination Information' on MastodonShare 'Meningococcal B Vaccination Information' on LinkedInShare 'Meningococcal B Vaccination Information' on reddit

NovoPen 4 to be phased out

The manufacturer of NovoPen® 4 has written to healthcare professionals advised that this device is being phased out and replaced by NovoPen® 5.

It is expected that supplies of the NovoPen® 4 will run out in September 2015. The new device will be available in the same colours (blue and silver) and has a memory function which displays the number of units last injected and gives an indication of the amount of time that has passed since the last injection.

Action: Clinicians should be aware of this product being discontinued and ensure that future prescriptions are issued for the replacement device.

Share 'NovoPen 4 to be phased out' by emailShare 'NovoPen 4 to be phased out' on FacebookShare 'NovoPen 4 to be phased out' on TwitterShare 'NovoPen 4 to be phased out' on MastodonShare 'NovoPen 4 to be phased out' on LinkedInShare 'NovoPen 4 to be phased out' on reddit

Prescribing Advice for GPs is powered by ClassicPress.
Connect to our RSS or Atom Feeds.