Online information about every medicine on demand

The patient information leaflet for most medicines is only available at the moment after a medicine has been purchased or a prescription supplied by a pharmacist.

The MHRA wants to know if people would want to be able to access this information about medicines at other times.  This might be when considering treatment options or after taking the medicine if you mislay the leaflet. The resource would also give access to the most up to date information.

Would you find this useful and if so, when might you use it?

Why the contribution is important

The patient information leaflet is regulated by the MHRA.  It sets out what a medicine is for and how to use it safely. People may want to know more about a medicine before deciding to buy it or getting their prescription from the pharmacy.  Access to leaflets online may help this. Medicines also have a shelf life of up to five years and individual packs may have spent some time in the supply chain before they are dispensed or sold. When the information is updated, for example by the addition of new safety information, the current leaflet will always be available online.

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lindaph
Posted by lindaph February 08, 2010 at 06:15PM
If this were a searchable database that patients could use without having to register first then the hysterectomy association would definitely link to it and make our users aware of the resource.

Even better, would be the ability to embed the data in searches on our own website as this would increase the number of users using the service.

Kindest regards

Linda Parkinson-Hardman
IonGal
Posted by IonGal February 12, 2010 at 09:13AM
With a lot of generic (unbranded) products available it may be quite complicated for a patient to find the leaflet unless some sort of identifier or filter is considered.
HErwood
Posted by HErwood February 14, 2010 at 12:20PM
The database needs to be accessible to all, and if necessary provide links to other database (as per the hysterectomy association mentioned above, NHS 24 etc) for further information.
Better still, it should be possible for a patient to walk into a Pharmacy and request a PIl for any medicine (if necessary at a nominal charge). Why not ask one of the large pharmacies (Alliance / Boots / lloyds) to pilot something like this?
HErwood
Posted by HErwood February 14, 2010 at 12:20PM
The database needs to be accessible to all, and if necessary provide links to other database (as per the hysterectomy association mentioned above, NHS 24 etc) for further information.
Better still, it should be possible for a patient to walk into a Pharmacy and request a PIl for any medicine (if necessary at a nominal charge). Why not ask one of the large pharmacies (Alliance / Boots / lloyds) to pilot something like this?
catriona
Posted by catriona February 18, 2010 at 04:18PM
I visit and support a 98-year-old neighbour who gets confused about her medicines and doesn't keep or refer to her PILs. I would use the database to check what her medicines are for, contraindications, possible side effects etc. The database would be useful for anyone trying to care for someone with impaired mental capacity. I would like it to be a bit like an online version of the old MIMS, but for the general public.
Catriona
eMC
Posted by eMC February 23, 2010 at 06:01PM
Catriona, I suggest you might like to take a look at medguides.medicines.org.uk to see if it meets your needs. This medicines information resource for patients and the general public, contains information about more than 2,700 medicines that are prescribed in the UK.

This resource has been developed from regulated information to help people understand their medicines and to take them safely. It provides information about how to use the medicines, warnings about side effects as well as interactions the medicine may have with other medicines or everyday activities such as diet and alcohol.

The Government (through the Department of Health), the NHS, patient and professional groups, as well as the pharmaceutical industry and its regulator all work together to govern the resource.

The information on the Medicine Guides resource is up to date and accurate and each Medicine Guide can be viewed online or printed out from a pdf. Many Medicine Guides also link to the Patient Information Leaflet that comes in the pack with the medicine.

Posted by Lawrence Berry (lberry@medicines.org.uk), Datapharm CEO.
Datapharm publishes the eMC (emc.medicines.org.uk) and provides the information about medicines used by NHS Choices (nhs.medguides.medicines.org.uk/nhs/default.aspx)
Eveline
Posted by Eveline March 03, 2010 at 01:22PM
up to date information is crucial - especially with newer medication new insight on their safety (rare side effects, drug interaction potential, relevance of genetics) becomes only known after registration of the drug - online updates are very useful
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