The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7310 p136
31 July 2004

This article
Reprint   Photocopy

PDF 40K, Acrobat Reader

A serious responsibility more
Therapeutics of the future more

A serious responsibility

The news that over-the-counter simvastatin is to be launched this week will be welcomed by most pharmacists (p137 and p143). But it is worth reflecting on the responsibility that this brings. For the first time, pharmacists will be recommending that a customer starts taking an OTC medicine for the long term, effectively for life. Another difference, compared with currently available pharmacy medicines, is the need to determine a customer’s risk factors for heart disease. OTC simvastatin is only licensed for people at moderate risk of coronary heart disease; those at higher risk need to be referred to a GP. Arguably, this could lead to an increased rate of identification of those at higher risk and a corresponding increase in the drugs bill for statins. So making simvastatin available over the counter might not be the cost-cutting exercise that many think it to be, although in the longer term better disease prevention should save the NHS millions.

But back to the responsibility that comes with OTC simvastatin. The need for a different approach is not to say that pharmacists are incapable of carrying out the role. Far from it. The support for the POM to P switch from those both inside and outside the profession demonstrates the confidence that exists in pharmacists’ skills.

But it is worth sounding a note of caution so that the responsibilities that come with this switch are taken seriously. Pharmacists have to get this one right — not just because an over-the-counter statin is a world first but because their actions with regard to the sale of the product will directly impinge on the public’s health. So pharmacists should take note of the practice guidance produced this week by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (p169) and take training seriously. If pharmacists fail to do this and grave mistakes result, then the current development of professional roles that pharmacy is enjoying is likely to be damaged.

And pharmacists who are still not convinced should consider this: one of the first organisations to show an interest in the Society’s practice guidance on OTC simvastatin was the Consumer’s Association. This is likely to mean that another Which? report is on the cards. Pharmacists must rise to the challenge of this public health opportunity and not be found to be unprepared when the Which? agents come to call.

Back to Top

Therapeutics of the future

This week we launch a new series of occasional articles that will look at developments in new drug technologies. The articles will describe each new technology and the background developments that have made it possible. They will discuss its pros and cons and future possibilities. We start the series with an article on how the lungs can be a route for the delivery of drugs for non-respiratory conditions (p161). Other subjects will be dealt with as they arise. We commend these articles to our readers: they describe the therapeutics of the future.

Back to Top