| Friday, 12 January 2007 | |
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Stoate calls for end to ban on co-proxamol Dartford MP, Dr Howard Stoate, is calling on the Department of Health to rethink the ban on the painkiller co-proxamol.Dr Stoate, together with Anne Begg, the Labour MP for Aberdeen South, will use a debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday 17 January 2007 to ask Health Ministers to look again at the MHRA’s ban on the drug. The call comes after a survey of GPs showed that most family doctors believe that the drug is the only effective pain killer for many arthritis sufferers and others with a high level of pain. Dr Stoate, who is a member of the Health Select Committee said; “withdrawing co-proxamol’s licence makes no sense whatsoever. Co-proxamol remains the most effective means of pain management for many patients and GPs should have the right to prescribe it to them where necessary – without having to walk a legal tightrope.” Anne Begg, who secured the debate said, “The MHRA banned co-proxamol over concerns that the drug was being used to commit suicide, a decision which has been described by the Chief Prescribing Officer of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee as ‘absolute and utter nonsense’. For the sake of patients who have no alternative effective pain relief other than co-proxamol we need the Department of Health to lift the ban for existing patients.” Co-Proxamol was used by hundreds of thousands of patients but was withdrawn over reports that linked overdoses on the drug to around 400 deaths. The MHRA took the decision after a risk and benefit review. The MHRA claimed that taking ten pills in a 24 hour period could lead to slowing of the respiratory system, abnormal heart rhythms and cardiac arrest. Anne Begg held a previous debate on co-proxamol in July 2005 where the government conceded that some patients should still be allowed to use co-proxamol. However this was on a ‘named patient’ basis which allows a doctor to prescribe an unlicensed drug. This left all the liability on the doctor which meant a number of GPs weren’t willing to prescribe the drug even though they felt that it was the best form of pain relief for the patient. However a recent survey of GPs and consultant rheumatologists by Pulse magazine showed that 70% of GPs and 94% of rheumatologists felt that the MHRA should have another look at their decision. The MHRA have themselves acknowledged that there exists a group of patients with a clinical need for co-proxamol as effective alternatives appear not to be effective or suitable. Notes The UK’s drug licensing body, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced in January 2005 that co-proxamol would be gradually withdrawn. It felt the benefits of co-proxamol did not outweigh the risks. The MHRA urged GPs to attempt to transfer all patients to other forms of medication, but accepted that for some patients the alternatives were not suitable. It announced therefore that co-proxamol could continue to be prescribed under normal prescribing procedures until the end of December 2007, provided that: the doctor believes that co-proxamol is the only suitable painkiller for a particular individual that doctor is confident that their patient both understands and will follow strictly their advice on how to take it The MHRA anticipates that after December 2007, co-proxamol will be available on a ‘named patient’ basis only, subject to stocks. |
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© 2008 Dr Howard Stoate - Member of Parliament for Dartford
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