Patients Report Drug Side-effects

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Patients report drug side-effects

Country United Kingdom United Kingdom

Date 27 October 2005

Patients will be able directly to report side-effects from drugs to the medicines watchdog as part of a UK-wide pilot.

The Yellow Card Scheme, used by health staff and pharmaceutical companies to report suspected adverse reactions to medicines, will now be extended to the public. Yellow card reporting forms will be available in pharmacies, GP surgeries and other NHS sites across the UK from next week.

The UK-wide trial follows successful pilots which have been running in parts of the UK since January.

The Yellow Card Scheme was set up in 1964 for health professionals to report suspected drug safety hazards following the Thalidomide tragedy. Side-effects are reported through the scheme to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM).

Professor Kent Woods, MHRA chief executive, said: "I welcome the launch of this UK-wide pilot enabling people to report their suspected side-effects to us.

"By inviting people to report their experiences, not only are we able to gain better insights into the safety of medicines, but we can more directly involve people in medicines regulation."

CSM chairman Professor Gordon Duff added: "The benefits of encouraging patients to complete Yellow Card reports are becoming evident.

"Patients provide a different and extremely useful insight into suspected side-effects that we cannot easily get from Yellow Card reports from health professionals.

Dr Patricia Wilkie, chairman of the CSM's Working Group on Patient Reporting, said: "Patient reporting through the Yellow Card Scheme helps the MHRA to collect information on suspected side-effects that patients have experienced, from the patient's own perspective.

"The incorporation of the patient experience in the Yellow Card Scheme is essential for medicines safety monitoring, and will be important for the development of information for patients about their medicines."

Source: Daily Mail, 25/10/2005