Volumatic spacer devices to be reintroduced in UK
Children should be given priority for switching back to Volumatic spacers |
Volumatic spacer devices are to be reintroduced in the UK following concerns raised by the Committee on Safety of Medicines over a lack of data to support the AeroChamber Plus device, Gordon Duff, chairman of the Commission on Human Medicines, has announced in a letter to health professionals.
Manufacture of the Volumatic in the UK was discontinued last August following
a factory closure. However, the CSM
expressed concern (PJ, 20 August
2005, p215) and advised patients who already had a Volumatic to continue
to use it.
In the light of these concerns, GlaxoSmithKline, manufacturer of the
Volumatic, has committed to reintroduce the device and newly manufactured
stock will be available in the UK from mid-February. A limited supply
of devices from other countries has been made available in the interim
and GSK will supply separately UK product information leaflets to pharmacies.
Professor Duff specifies that patients with Allen & Hanbury inhalers
who require a spacer device for the first time should be prescribed a
Volumatic. An AeroChamber Plus device should only be dispensed if there
is insufficient interim stock of Volumatic spacer devices. He adds that
patients who have already switched to the AeroChamber Plus device have
no urgent need to switch back unless they are experiencing problems.
From mid-February, priority for switching back should be given to children
and those taking inhaled high-dose corticosteroids and long-acting beta-agonists.
Further details are available on the website of
the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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