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Letters to the Editor
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Simvastatin
No sign of J&J guide
From Mr P. K. Taneja, MRPharmS
Simvastatin was
launched last week (PJ, 31 July, p137) and I, along
with many other pharmacists, looked forward to the challenge of a new
role providing a novel product over the counter to the public. It would
also provide us with an opportunity to enhance our profession, which,
to be frank, has taken a battering following the latest Which? report.
Therefore it came as a bit of a surprise when I turned up as a locum
on Monday morning and found the training guide for pharmacists and pharmacy
assistants had not arrived. I spoke to other colleagues who also had
not received their guides. Upon ringing Johnson&Johnson MSD I was
also informed that the questionnaire had not been sent out.
The practice
guidance included in The Journal (31 July, p169) proved
invaluable. My point is that for such a big launch J&J had ample
time to get the guides out to us. Once again our profession has been
sold down the river.
Pawan K. Taneja
Swansea
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DAVID MITCHELL, commercial director, Johnson & Johnson MSD,
replies:
The suggestion that, with the launch of Zocor Heart-Pro,
Johnson & Johnson MSD has sold the pharmacy profession down
the river is a grave accusation and one that we take seriously.
Our focus in preparing for the introduction of Zocor Heart-Pro
was to keep pharmacists at the heart of all our planning and preparation.
Throughout the switch process
we have taken great care to consult with pharmacists via an advisory panel,
which was created to help guide our launch activities. Extensive
consultation occurred
with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the National Pharmaceutical Association,
the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education and its equivalents in Scotland,
Wales, and Northern Ireland.
From April 2004, Johnson & Johnson MSD has provided face-to-face generic
training on coronary heart disease and the proposed over-the-counter statins
model, reaching over 9,000 UK pharmacists. For even wider coverage, pre-launch
feature articles were placed in leading pharmacy journals.
Following licence approval in late July, we focused on providing pharmacists
with supplies of product and branded training materials as quickly as possible.
August was targeted to achieve this, so that customers would receive product
supplies and comprehensive training packs well in advance of consumer advertising
activities.
Mailings were co-ordinated from early August to deliver training packs to all
UK pharmacies, as well as some 10,000 locum pharmacists. Knowing direct mail
to be a slow delivery mechanism and to ensure all pharmacists had immediate
access to information, a Zocor Heart-Pro training document was inserted into
Chemist&Druggist (31 July) and our training guides were featured on the Johnson & Johnson
MSD and Zocor Heart-Pro websites during
the week that the licence was granted. In addition, several pages of practice
guidance were featured in the PJ (31 July, p169) and further educational
articles in leading journals were planned from July and throughout August.
Johnson & Johnson MSD makes every attempt to ensure that the needs of pharmacists
are central to our activities. This will continue as we build and develop the
heart health category and Zocor Heart-Pro. |
Not going to stock Zocor-Heart Pro
From Mr C. Payne, MRPharmS
Surely it is unethical to sell Zocor-Heart Pro at £12.99 without
explaining that simvastatin 10mg can be obtained for £6.40 on prescription
(or at no charge if the patient is exempt) — if it is actually
required. And, of course, the patient would receive a proper medical
assessment.
I will not be stocking Zocor Heart-Pro and have advised local GPs accordingly.
Conrad Payne
Ely,
Cambridgeshire
Academic quackery?
From Mr P. Robinson, MRPharmS
I refer to the research paper investigating OTC supply of simvastatin (PDF 65K)
in The Journal (7 August, p191).
If the conclusions of this extremely small, localised and nationally
unrepresentative study are expected to have a bearing on the profession
as a whole, as seems to be the intention, then they can only be described
as something approaching academic quackery.
A number of pharmacists who were asked to take part in the project refused,
and of those who accepted, only 50 per cent (100) returned their questionnaires.
Respondents represented less than 0.25 per cent of the total membership.
It would appear, then, that the most significant aspect of this research
was the extent to which it was rebuffed.
Considering that OTC simvastatin is a key initiative in the process of
pharmacy reform at the moment, the implication at local level is that
pharmacists are not interested in the issues surrounding the supply of
this drug that are raised by this study.
Peter Robinson
Leeds
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In common with all original papers published in The Journal, Dr Blenkinsopp’s
was peer-reviewed by a practising academic pharmacist.
— EDITOR
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal