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Healthy Living
How to Fight Back Against Big Pharma and Make Your Voice Heard...
Date: 17/12/10
Keywords: American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Food Safety Authority, MedWatch, Prescription Drugs, Prescription Medication
Let’s say you get a prescription for a drug that has known adverse side-effects and you have no other choice but to take it, do you simply suffer the side effects when they occur, or do you report them to your doctor or a medicines authority?
Let’s say you get a prescription for a drug that has known adverse side-effects and you have no other choice but to take it, do you simply suffer the side effects when they occur, or do you report them to your doctor or a medicines authority?
Don’t let your doctor fob you off...
This is a situation many people find themselves in, some may feel that since the side effects are already known and listed there’s no need to report them. Others may have had the experience that when they mentioned the side effects to their doctor, they were fobbed-off or simply got another prescription for a different drug... probably with a different (if not similar) set of side effects. So what’s the point... it’s a lot less hassle to just grin and bare any ill effects, right?
The truth is, serious suspected side effects or reactions from all medicines and vaccines (prescribed or over-the- counter), should be reported even if they are already established. If there are significant changes in the frequency or severity of side effects that are already listed, further regulatory action can be taken by medical authorities.
Still, trusting your doctor to report the side-effects may seem almost as pointless as reporting them in the first place, especially since many doctors may have a vested interest when it comes to prescribing certain types of medicine...
In an e-alert we sent almost a year ago, we told you about a worrying study which revealed how many doctors and health care professionals do not know about dangerous drug interactions and contraindications. How on earth then can the public expect them to make safe recommendations on their behalf, let alone report dangerous side effects?
Give them a yellow card
However, patients can take matters into their own hands... and skip the middle-man, so to speak...
A new EU law was passed in September this year, which involves national websites being set up to provide information on medicinal products and any known side effects. The websites will contain assessment reports, summaries of product characteristics, information leaflets, and advice for patients on how to report any concerns they might have.
In the UK, this law has already been put into action with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) on-line ‘Yellow Card Scheme’.
Members of the public can register free with the scheme and report any side effects they’re experiencing through an online assessment from. Getting patients involved is vital in helping the MHRA monitor the safety of the medicines and vaccines that are on the market.
Yellow Card reports received on suspected side effects are evaluated, together with clinical trial data and medical literature or data from international medicines regulators. The MHRA takes action, whenever necessary, to ensure that medicines are used in a way that minimizes risk, while maximizing patient benefit.
Whilst these are still just promises on paper at the moment, it is a step in the right direction. If more people, for instance, report on the side effects of statins, it might very well alert government agencies to the fact that such a dangerous drug should not be so widely prescribed, as currently is the case... Who knows, we may even see more drugs, like the dangerous diabetes drug Avandia, being removed or banned from the market altogether.
In the US, a similar reporting system is in place with MedWatch, the American Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) programme for reporting serious reactions, quality problems and therapeutic failures of drugs and medical devices.
In comparison with the UK’s Yellow Card Scheme, reporting drug side effects on MedWatch is a bit more cumbersome; nonetheless, it should not deter anyone from making their voice heard.
One of our missions here at the Daily Health is to alert people to the dangers linked to many prescription drugs. However, more needs to be done to fight back against Big Pharma and its drug-onslaught. We need to ensure that they’re only developing drugs that are truly safe and effective with little or no side effects... but as you know from reading these e-alerts, we still have a long way to go before we reach that point.
For the time being, speak to your doctor about any side effects you experience following the use of prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Ask them if they are going to report the side effects and if you feel no further action will be taken and you’ve reached a dead-end, make your own complaint to the MHRA... In fact, do both from the onset!
If you want to find out more about how to use the two reporting tools mentioned in this alert, follow the links provided below:
Yellow Card Scheme
MedWatch
Sources:
Yellow Card Scheme - yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/
Medwatch - fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/HowToReport/ucm053074.htm
Pharmacy Research Shows Prescribers Miss Potentially Dangerous Drug Pairs’ published online 16.07.09, sciencedaily.com
Back to topDon’t let your doctor fob you off...
This is a situation many people find themselves in, some may feel that since the side effects are already known and listed there’s no need to report them. Others may have had the experience that when they mentioned the side effects to their doctor, they were fobbed-off or simply got another prescription for a different drug... probably with a different (if not similar) set of side effects. So what’s the point... it’s a lot less hassle to just grin and bare any ill effects, right?
The truth is, serious suspected side effects or reactions from all medicines and vaccines (prescribed or over-the- counter), should be reported even if they are already established. If there are significant changes in the frequency or severity of side effects that are already listed, further regulatory action can be taken by medical authorities.
Still, trusting your doctor to report the side-effects may seem almost as pointless as reporting them in the first place, especially since many doctors may have a vested interest when it comes to prescribing certain types of medicine...
In an e-alert we sent almost a year ago, we told you about a worrying study which revealed how many doctors and health care professionals do not know about dangerous drug interactions and contraindications. How on earth then can the public expect them to make safe recommendations on their behalf, let alone report dangerous side effects?
Give them a yellow card
However, patients can take matters into their own hands... and skip the middle-man, so to speak...
A new EU law was passed in September this year, which involves national websites being set up to provide information on medicinal products and any known side effects. The websites will contain assessment reports, summaries of product characteristics, information leaflets, and advice for patients on how to report any concerns they might have.
In the UK, this law has already been put into action with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) on-line ‘Yellow Card Scheme’.
Members of the public can register free with the scheme and report any side effects they’re experiencing through an online assessment from. Getting patients involved is vital in helping the MHRA monitor the safety of the medicines and vaccines that are on the market.
Yellow Card reports received on suspected side effects are evaluated, together with clinical trial data and medical literature or data from international medicines regulators. The MHRA takes action, whenever necessary, to ensure that medicines are used in a way that minimizes risk, while maximizing patient benefit.
Whilst these are still just promises on paper at the moment, it is a step in the right direction. If more people, for instance, report on the side effects of statins, it might very well alert government agencies to the fact that such a dangerous drug should not be so widely prescribed, as currently is the case... Who knows, we may even see more drugs, like the dangerous diabetes drug Avandia, being removed or banned from the market altogether.
In the US, a similar reporting system is in place with MedWatch, the American Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) programme for reporting serious reactions, quality problems and therapeutic failures of drugs and medical devices.
In comparison with the UK’s Yellow Card Scheme, reporting drug side effects on MedWatch is a bit more cumbersome; nonetheless, it should not deter anyone from making their voice heard.
One of our missions here at the Daily Health is to alert people to the dangers linked to many prescription drugs. However, more needs to be done to fight back against Big Pharma and its drug-onslaught. We need to ensure that they’re only developing drugs that are truly safe and effective with little or no side effects... but as you know from reading these e-alerts, we still have a long way to go before we reach that point.
For the time being, speak to your doctor about any side effects you experience following the use of prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Ask them if they are going to report the side effects and if you feel no further action will be taken and you’ve reached a dead-end, make your own complaint to the MHRA... In fact, do both from the onset!
If you want to find out more about how to use the two reporting tools mentioned in this alert, follow the links provided below:
Yellow Card Scheme
MedWatch
Sources:
Yellow Card Scheme - yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/
Medwatch - fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/HowToReport/ucm053074.htm
Pharmacy Research Shows Prescribers Miss Potentially Dangerous Drug Pairs’ published online 16.07.09, sciencedaily.com
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