The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7460 p37
14 July 2007

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Actavis relaunches its full range of generics with labelling that considers NPSA guidelines

Generics manufacturer Actavis is relaunching its entire range of products in the UK in new packaging designed to reduce the risk of patients getting the wrong medicine because of confusing labelling.

The new packaging is in keeping with National Patient Safety Agency guidelines that were produced last year. The guidelines call for clear labelling with the drug name, strength and form printed in a large typeface without any other distracting information on three sides of the box.

Other information that is needed to meet regulatory requirements, but which can cause confusion, is confined to the other three sides of the box. Boldly contrasting colours are also used to highlight some information, such as the differing strengths of products with the same active ingredient.

Speaking at the launch of the new packaging at the Actavis factory in Barnstaple, Devon, at the end of last week, David Cousins, head of safe medication practice at the NPSA, said that picking up the wrong medicine or the wrong strength of drug were among the most common drug errors reported to the NPSA’s national reporting and learning system.

Features that could be included in packaging designed to reduce these types of mistakes included:

• Clear, large typefaces

• All text running in the same direction

• Blank space to emphasise key information

• Colour to aid product differentiation

• Capitals to differentiate similar drug names, for example, chlorproPAMIDE and chlorproMAZINE

Dr Cousins said that patient safety was now in the first domain of NHS national standards, which meant that contracts for the supply of generic medicines to the NHS were not awarded on the basis of cost alone, but also took account of pack design.

He added that the NPSA had now developed a comparable standard for dispensing labels and was starting to look at how dispensaries could be designed to reduce the likelihood of errors occuring.