New Web Resource About Medicines

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 30 Sep 2008 - 6:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

From today, people can access a new authoritative source of information on the Internet about medicines. This new resource is a guide to the life-cycle of new medicines, from their first scientific discovery through to licensing and on-going monitoring. It is available at http://www.mhra.gov.uk/mymedicine

It describes how scientists pinpoint diseases and set about the painstaking task of finding compounds which can combat specific illnesses. Up to 1,000 compounds are tested to find as few as 30 'hits' - compounds worthy of further investigation.

After years of research and safety trials, new medicines have to be licensed for use in the UK and after being approved they are continually monitored for safety, all of which is explained at http://www.mhra.gov.uk/mymedicine

The site is a joint initiative from the regulators of medicines in the UK - the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) - and the makers of medicines - represented by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

Professor Kent Woods, MHRA Chief Executive said, "Medicines can bring big benefits, but as with any medical treatment, no medicine is risk-free. By making as much information as possible publicly available, we can help people make informed choices about the medicines they take.

"We want to make sure people understand the relationship between the risks and the benefits and we encourage people to tell us about any problems they have with a medicine, so that we can investigate and help make medicines safer."

Karen Miller, a director at the ABPI said, "More and more people are going online to find out about health-related issues, and while the internet is a superb resource, it contains a lot of disinformation.

"With the MHRA, we wanted to create a website which provides an authoritative and reliable source of information which explains the time and effort invested into medicines before they arrive in the medicine cabinet."

Anne Joshua, NHS Direct Associate Director of Pharmacy said, "NHS Direct regularly receive calls from members of the public about new treatments and their availability on the NHS. Typically they may have heard about a new medicine in the media and want to know about the benefits and risks for treating their individual condition, or as a carer, if it is available for their elderly relative with more than one long term condition. If the medicine is still undergoing investigation they may want to know how they can join a clinical trial or if a clinical specialist can prescribe it for them anyway.

"This new web resource will provide the necessary reassurance to patients and their families about how new medicines are rigorously tested before they are available to the public and what measures are taken to ensure the safety of newly licensed medicines as they are used across the range of conditions that they treat."

A link to http://www.mhra.gov.uk/mymedicine will also be available via the NHS Direct website located at http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/Zones/Zone.aspx?zoneId=42

Notes

1. The MHRA is the government agency responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work, and are acceptably safe. No product is risk-free. Underpinning all our work lie robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits to patients and the public justify the risks. We keep watch over medicines and devices, and take any necessary action to protect the public promptly if there is a problem. We encourage everyone -the public and healthcare professionals as well as the industry - to tell us about any problems with a medicine or medical device, so that we can investigate and take any necessary action. http://www.mhra.gov.uk

2. The ABPI is the trade association for more than 75 companies in the UK producing prescription medicines. Its member companies research, develop, manufacture and supply more than 80 per cent of the medicines prescribed through the National Health Service (NHS).

MHRA