{"id":1075,"date":"2015-10-13T13:48:34","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T13:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/?p=1075"},"modified":"2015-10-13T13:48:34","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T13:48:34","slug":"news-and-updates-from-www-palliativedrugs-com-81","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/2015\/10\/13\/news-and-updates-from-www-palliativedrugs-com-81\/","title":{"rendered":"News and updates from www.palliativedrugs.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Selected items from the News and Latest Additions sections of www.palliativedrugs.com<\/a>, the world\u2019s leading palliative care website with over 30,000 members from 169\u00a0Countries.<\/p>\n

Hot topics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Motor Neurone Disease: NICE guideline consultation
\n<\/strong>NICE have published a draft guideline for consultation for motor neurone disease (closing 13\u00a0October 2015), The guideline covers the assessment and management of motor neurone disease,\u00a0including managing symptoms of coughing, breathlessness, the use of drugs to treat muscle\u00a0cramps and stiffness. For more information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cochrane review: venlafaxine for neuropathic pain in adults
\n<\/strong>This new review has been published in full on-line (CD011091<\/a>). The authors concluded that while\u00a0there is some evidence that venlafaxine may be of benefit in treating neuropathic pain, it is not\u00a0sufficiently robust to promote a change in prescribing practice. Venlafaxine should probably only\u00a0be considered for use in people who have not responded to tricyclic antidepressants and\u00a0anticonvulsants, or if there are contra-indications to these.<\/p>\n

Update on the prescribing and dispensing of pregabalin for neuropathic pain
\n<\/strong>A High Court judgement on 10 September 2015 ruled against Pfizer in its patent infringement case\u00a0for Lyrica (see our news item 10 March 2015<\/a>). However, the judgement is subject to appeal and\u00a0thus the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has stated that the prescribing and\u00a0dispensing guidance for pregabalin in neuropathic pain issued by NHS England, in response to a\u00a0court ruling, is still to be followed until definitive unequivocal guidance is provided by another court\u00a0ruling. (NHS England prescribing guidance<\/a>).
\nNote: as previously stated, gabapentin is an alternative first-line option for neuropathic pain (see\u00a0our Gabapentin and pregabalin monograph<\/a>). Generic gabapentin capsules, authorized for\u00a0peripheral neuropathic pain, are as effective as,\u00a0and significantly cheaper than, the Lyrica brand of\u00a0pregabalin. For more information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Drug updates
\n<\/strong>Magnesium aspartate dihydrate approved by NHS Wales for hypomagnesaemia
\n<\/strong>The new magnesium powder sachet for oral solution (Magnaspartate sachets; Kora Healthcare,\u00a0Ireland, see our news item 15 April 2015<\/a>) has been approved by NHS Wales as an option for the\u00a0prevention and treatment of magnesium deficiency in children from two years, adolescents and\u00a0adults. For more information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Capsaicin patch indications updated
\n<\/strong>In addition to non-diabetic peripheral neuropathy, capsaicin 179mg cutaneous patches (Qutenza;\u00a0Astellas) are now authorized in the UK for the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. For\u00a0more information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lacri-Lube eye ointment recalled
\n<\/strong>UK MHRA has recalled specific batches of Lacri-Lube eye ointment 3.5g and 5g (Allergen Ltd),\u00a0following a small number of reports of black particles found in some of the tube nozzles. Due to\u00a0the large number of batches recalled, it is anticipated that there will be a shortage of this product, with supply unlikely to return to normal until early 2016. For further information and full details of\u00a0the batches affected see below. For more information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Disipal brand of orphenadrine tablets discontinued
\n<\/strong>Astellas is discontinuing orphenadrine hydrochloride (Disipal) tablets 50mg from 1 December 2015\u00a0because of manufacturing issues. Stock can be ordered until 30 November 2015. Generic\u00a0orphenadrine 50mg tablets are available, however they are currently significantly more expensive,<\/p>\n

i.e.:
\nOrphenadrine (generic)
\nTablets<\/strong> 50mg, 28 days @ 50mg t.d.s. = \u00a367.
\nOral solution<\/strong> 50mg\/5mL, 28 days @ 50mg t.d.s. = \u00a320.<\/p>\n

Biorphen\u00ae (Alliance)
\nOral solution (sugar-free)<\/strong> 25mg\/5mL, 28 days @ 50mg t.d.s. = \u00a336.<\/p>\n

Disipal\u00ae (Astellas)
\nTablets<\/strong> 50mg, 28 days @ 50mg t.d.s. = \u00a33.<\/p>\n

Latest additions
\nPCF updated monographs summary<\/strong> (September 2015)
\n<\/strong>Due to the imminent publication of PCF5+ 2015 pdf, there have been no updates to the on-line\u00a0PCF this month. For a full list of all the monographs updated since the publication of PCF5, click\u00a0here<\/a>. Follow us on twitter @palliativedrugs for the latest updates.<\/p>\n

Phenobarbital CSCI \u2013 How do you dilute it?
\n<\/strong>For results from our UK survey (August \u2013 September 2015), click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prepared by Sarah Charlesworth and Andrew Wilcock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Selected items from the News and Latest Additions sections of www.palliativedrugs.com, the world\u2019s leading palliative care website with over 30,000 members from 169\u00a0Countries. Hot topics Motor Neurone Disease: NICE guideline consultation NICE have published a draft guideline for consultation for motor neurone disease (closing 13\u00a0October 2015), The guideline covers the assessment and management of motor […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2833],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-updates-from-www-palliativedrugs-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}