A pharmacist’s timely reporting to the Yellow Card scheme has helped the MHRA and an inhaler manufacturer to improve the safety information to avert potential risk of wrong usage of inhaler.
Jazz, a concerned pharmacist, alerted the MHRA of the potential risk of inhaler after a patient nearly choked when accidentally inhaling lung medication capsule through the wrong part of the inhaler.
Following the alert from the pharmacist, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) conducted a detailed investigation and found that there was potential for confusion when using the medicine and the device in combination.
The MHRA later worked with the manufacturer to improve the safety information.
Jazz, pharmacist and Yellow Card reporter said: “Now the products come with warnings about choking and clearer instructions on how to insert the capsule correctly into the device, including pictures that make it easy to understand.
“The MHRA also alerted doctors, pharmacists and healthcare professionals across the UK about the safety risk.
“It really goes to show that every piece of information is important and can make such a big difference to patient safety.”
Mick Foy, manager at the MHRA’s Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines Division, said: “…The MHRA uses Yellow Card reports to strengthen our investigations and advice on how to use products safely to protect patients.
“Whether you’ve experienced a side effect, seen a faulty medical device, or observed a potential issue, your report to the Yellow Card scheme helps us take action to protect everyone.”
Anyone can use the Yellow Card scheme to report suspected side effects of medicines, incidents involving medical devices, and defective or fake medical products.
