The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7312 p221
14 August 2004

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· Statins
· Enhanced services
· Shipman inquiry
· Dispensing errors
· Language skills
· Pharmacy education
· Tablet identification
· TCM
· The Charter

Letters to the Editor

Tablet identification

TICTAC can be used to check proposed markings

From Mr J. Ramsey and Ms J. Woolley

TICTAC is the national solid dose form drug identification system. We read with interest the letter from Chris Toothill (PJ, 31 July, p149). We had also noticed the near identical tablets marked G 25 that contain different active ingredients. It was discovered by a TICTAC subscriber performing a routine identification.

Ecopace 25mg by Goldshield contains captopril and is 8.2mm diameter, 2.9mm thick and weighs 179mg. The gliclazide 80mg tablet is 8.0mm diameter, 2.6mm and weighs 158mg and is from Milpharm (the product licence holder) but also marketed by Ivax, Karib Kemi and perhaps others.

Ecopace has been in the TICTAC database since May 1998 but we were unaware of the gliclazide product, or the company (Milpharm) that supplied it, until alerted by our subscriber.

As Mr Toothill implies, this highlights the need for a formal mechanism to avoid duplication of tablet appearance. Our database (www.TICTAC.org.uk), although primarily used for identification, is also used by industry to check proposed markings. If companies were encouraged to contribute to and use TICTAC (as many already do) the problems illustrated by Mr Toothill would soon disappear.

John Ramsey
Director

Jean Woolley
Administrator
TICTAC Communications Ltd

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