Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

Medicines regulator introduces age restrictions on OTC laxatives following safety review

Over-the-counter laxatives for adolescents aged 12 to 17 years can now only be supplied under the supervision of a pharmacist, following the results of a review by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.…

How our hospital reduced its paracetamol overdose prescribing errors to zero

Asif Sarwar, an advanced clinical pharmacist specialising in electronic prescribing, describes how he and his team developed a tool that successfully reduced prescribing errors for patients with acute paracetamol overdose from 25% to 0%.…

MHRA instructs all UK hydroxychloroquine COVID-19 clinical trials to suspend recruitment

All UK clinical trials using hydroxychloroquine to treat or prevent COVID-19 have been instructed to suspend recruitment of further participants.…

First COVID-19 treatment to be made available for use in UK outside a clinical trial

Remdesivir will become the first COVID-19 treatment in the UK to be made available for use outside a clinical trial.…

Paracetamol or ibuprofen can be used to treat the symptoms of COVID-19, says NHS England

The NHS has changed its advice on only taking paracetamol to treat the symptoms of COVID-19 and now says that patients can take either paracetamol or ibuprofen to self-medicate for symptoms such as fever or headache.…

Government allows bulk import and storage of medical cannabis

The government has announced that licensed medicines wholesalers will be able to hold reserve stocks of medical cannabis, effective immediately.…

Codeine should not be available over the counter, says chair of opioid expert working group

Low-dose codeine should no longer be available to buy over the counter, the chair of the UK’s Commission on Human Medicines opioid expert working group has said.…

Medicines regulator to publish review into safety of OTC laxatives

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is to publish the results of a four-year review into the safety of over-the-counter stimulant laxatives, a spokesperson has confirmed.…

Government opens talks on cutting delays to provision of medical cannabis

The government is considering whether licensed wholesalers could hold reserve stocks of medical cannabis to reduce delays in patients receiving their medicines.…

‘Reporting illicit drug reactions’ pilot to close following lack of use

A pilot of a national system for reporting unexpected or severe illicit drug reactions has been stopped because of a lack of use by healthcare professionals.…