Well, it seems the MHRA have joined forces with Pharma [who else!] and created a new web section on their website. My medicine: From laboratory to pharmacy shelf "...aims to help you find out more about the life cycle of medicines from their first scientific discovery through to licensing and ongoing monitoring."
The pages set out to explain:
How and why medicines are developed
How the process is regulated and monitored
How potential problems can be reported and what you can do to help
Why not all medicines are widely available in the NHS.
Pharmafocus
"UK regulators and the pharma industry have come together to launch a new website for patients.
The 'mymedicine' site is a joint collaboration between the MHRA and the ABPI, and explains the drug lifecycle and how medicines become available on the NHS."
Karen Miller, a director at the ABPI, said, "More and more people are going online to find out about health-related issues, and while the internet is a superb resource, it contains a lot of disinformation."
I wonder if she means patient advocate blogs? It seems 'timely' that such a unison between the MHRA and the ABPI should come on the back of a recent commissioned report into blogs by the MHRA where it was shown that blogs are quite influential when reporting drugs such as Seroxat.
Phil Dawdy of Furious Seasons wrote: "Included among influential and popular blogs in no particular order were Pharmalot (US), Seroxat Sufferers (UK), Seroxat Secrets (UK), the Carlat Psychiatry Blog (US), Furious Seasons (my All-American blog), Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry (US) and Health Care Renewal (US). For popularity and influence, we ranked right up there with wire services, the London Times and the Wall Street Journal and only slightly trailed the BBC and the New York Times. This is all quite astonishing when you think about it--underfinanced blogs having as much influence as the WSJ! Unthinkable! US blogs that barely mention the MHRA (and usually write about Paxil not Seroxat) being more influential than WebMD--the world has come undone for sure!"
The 'Blog Report' can be downloaded here
Fid
Read the new book, The Evidence, However, Is Clear...The Seroxat Scandal
By Bob Fiddaman
ISBN: 978-1-84991-120-7
CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE
PAPERBACK COMING SOON
2 comments: