“Good quality consultations…adequate counselling” and “robust systems to verify [patients'] medical history” are all among the “new safety measures” for pharmacies supplying finasteride, the regulator this week (October 7) said.
In May, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced that it would issue a new patient alert card for popular hair loss drug finasteride due to side effects of “depressed mood, depression, suicidal thoughts and sexual dysfunction” in some patients.
Read more: Finasteride: MHRA warns of hair loss drug ‘psychiatric and sexual side effects’
At the time, the MHRA said that there was a “lack of awareness of these potential side effects”.
Now, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has released “new safety measures” for pharmacies supplying the drug privately.
The GPhC’s “considerations for pharmacy teams” include providing “adequate counselling” and reviewing “the training requirements of team members to undertake good quality consultations”, it said.
Read more: ‘Stop supplying immediately’: Pfizer recalls anaemia drug over ‘fatal events’
“Robust systems to verify the medical history of the patient to ensure that prescribers receive reliable, accurate and up to date information” are also needed, it added.
“When issuing repeat prescriptions” pharmacy policy “should consider appropriate timeframes to review a patient”, the GPhC said.
“Providing finasteride at a distance carries particular risk,” the update also warned.
Drug disquiet
Meanwhile last week, healthcare professionals were urged to stop supplying Oxbryta “immediately” after new data revealed “an unfavourable imbalance” of “fatal events” and “acute painful crises” in patients on the drug.
Manufacturer Pfizer Limited recalled “all distributed batches of Oxbryta 500 mg tablets” due to concerns the concerns raised by “emerging data from clinical trials and registry-based studies”.
Read more: Shortage warnings: ADHD, opioid dependence and period delay drugs
In August, the MHRA warned that one ADHD drug was in short supply, while some period delay and opioid dependency drugs would remain “out of stock” into the autumn.
And in the same month, a manufacturer recalled a medicine used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) “as a precautionary measure” due to unacceptable “variability”.
