Scottish Medicines Consortium issues advice on four products
The Scottish Medicines
Consortium has issued new advice on atazanavir, buprenorphine, Co-Diovan and rabeprazole this week.
It has accepted atazanavir (Reyataz) for restricted use within NHS Scotland
for treatment of HIV-1 infected adults who have undergone antiretroviral
treatment. The drug should be used in combination with other antiretrovirals
in patients who do not require a statin.
The SMC advises that buprenorphine matrix patches (Transtec) are not
recommended for the treatment of moderate to severe cancer pain and severe
pain that does not respond to non-opioid analgesics. It advises that
valsartan/hydrochlorothiazide (Co-Diovan) is accepted for use for the
treatment of essential hypertension in patients not adequately controlled
on valsartan monotherapy. It accepts rabeprazole (Pariet) for patient-led
symptom relief of moderate to severe gastro-oesophageal reflux disease
in patients who do not have oesophagitis. |
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Pharmaceutical Journal
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