Guide on porcine-derived drugs launched
New guide will inform patients about medicines of animal origin |
A guide for health care professionals about drugs of porcine origin has been launched by the Medicines Partnership.
The guide aims to promote patient choice by allowing patients to make
informed decisions about treatment options. As well as listing drugs
of porcine origin and alternatives to them, the guide provides information
about which patients are most likely to be concerned about using porcine-derived
products and how to involve them in decisions.
Use of porcine-derived medicines is most likely to be an issue for people
of two faiths: Judaism and Islam. Both strictly forbid pork in the diet.
However, people with other
beliefs might also choose not to eat pork,
particularly those who follow vegetarian diets (which includes believers
in Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism).
The Medicines Partnership says that leaders of the Muslim and Jewish
communities have agreed that the guide represents a major step forward
in informing patients about their options in relation to medicines of
animal origin. The guide points out that patients are more likely to
follow treatment if their views are taken into account and that expanding
patient choice is a key objective of the NHS.
A version of the booklet for patients is now being developed.
Copies of the guide for health care professionals can be obtained from
the Medicines Partnership (tel 020 7572 2474, website www.medicines-partnership.org). |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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