News | Medicines safety

News

Weight loss drugs make up ‘very small’ proportion of illegal medicines trade in UK, says MHRA

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency highlighted that illegal weight loss medicines aren't a “substantial challenge” as the agency has made “900 or so seizures” of trafficked weight loss injections.…

Published: 18 November 2024

Feature

Everything you need to know about NICE’s decisions on ‘game-changing’ Alzheimer’s drugs

In August and October 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence issued a decision not to recommend two new drugs for Alzheimer’s disease that experts had previously welcomed for their disease-modifying effects. We explain the reasons behind their decisions.…

Published: 14 November 2024

News

Over 40% of people with cystic fibrosis have experienced significant health problems resulting from PERT shortage

A survey carried out by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust revealed that 20% of patients are losing weight owing to a shortage in pancreatic enzyme replacement therapies.…

Published: 13 November 2024

News

Smoking cessation drug to be provided on NHS three years after its withdrawal over carcinogen concerns

NHS England says generic varenicline could help more than 85,000 people stop smoking each year.…

Published: 12 November 2024

Feature

Spotlight: Safety of time-critical medicines

In this ‘Spotlight’ episode of The PJ Pod, we look at ways to reduce the number of patient safety incidents related to time-critical medicines.…

Published: 30 October 2024

News

High deprivation areas given funding to boost structured medication reviews, says HIN

The Health Innovation Network said that 25 primary care networks would be funded to provide supportive materials that had been shown to improve SMR outcomes.…

Published: 29 October 2024

News

Medicines regulator receives 46 reports of hospitalisations linked to weight-loss drugs

As of 16 August 2024, the MHRA had received 5,073 reports of common gastrointestinal reactions related to GLP-1 RA use, of which 46 reported hospitalisation of the individual.…

Published: 25 October 2024

News

Problems with diabetes monitoring devices are potentially being underreported, says MHRA

The regulator has urged people to speak to a healthcare professional if they have concerns that their health may have been impacted by an issue with their device.…

Published: 10 October 2024

News

Nitazenes linked to 179 deaths in 12 months, government data show

According to data analysis by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, protonitazene was linked to the most reported deaths — 73 out of 179.…

Published: 9 October 2024

News

Patient safety improvement and medicines waste targeted by repeat prescribing toolkit

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society says the new resource is the first national good practice guidance on repeat prescribing published in 20 years.…

Published: 8 October 2024