Article Text
Short report
Supply problems of unlicensed and off-label medicines after discharge
Abstract
A total of 709 unlicensed and off-label medicines were prescribed for 338 patients discharged from a paediatric hospital between 1 November 2003 and 31 January 2004. Thirty three per cent of patients had difficulty obtaining these medications in primary care which caused treatment disruption. The main problems were: (1) community pharmacies being unable to supply; and (2) GPs’ refusal to prescribe.
- unlicensed
- off-label
- general practitioners
- prescribing
- pharmacy
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Footnotes
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Published Online First 22 May 2006
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Competing interests: none declared
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Funding: The School of Pharmacy, University of London
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Present address of V W Yeung: Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), London, UK. The views expressed in this article do not represent the views of the MHRA.