Further Information and Links
If you are worried about a suspected side effect, contact a doctor or pharmacist. You can also get information from: NHS Direct in England and Wales on 0845 46 47 (textphone 0845 606 4647) NHS24 in Scotland on 08454 24 24 24 (textphone 18001 08454 24 24 24)
The MHRA advises that you consult your health professional about any suspected side effect or adverse reaction from a medicine that you are worried about. The MHRA cannot provide medical advice in individual cases.
Drug Safety Update has information about medicines and their side effects
Drug Safety Update is a monthly publication which aims to update healthcare professionals on the latest safety information and guidance on use of medicines. This bulletin, produced by the MHRA and the Commission on Human Medicines, is intended for all doctors, dentists, pharmacists and coroners in the United Kingdom. If you would like to receive an e-mail notification when new issues of Drug Safety Update are published, please subscribe to our free e-mail alerting service (see www.mhra.gov.uk/mhra/drugsafetyupdate).
All medicines come with a leaflet that gives instructions on how the medicine should be used, and gives information on its side effects. This is called the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL), and you can find this plus further information for most of the medicines available in the United Kingdom, on the web at www.medicines.org.uk. The British National Formulary is another useful regular publication that provides healthcare professionals with up-to-date information about the use of medicines. The British National Formulary can be accessed on the web at www.bnf.org, while hard copies should be available at your local public library or at a pharmacy.
The company that makes the medicine can also provide more information about their product such as a full list of the known side effects to their medicines and products. The name of the company that made the medicine will be found on the patient information leaflet and on the medicine packaging.
Reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) received by the MHRA through the Yellow Card Scheme by healthcare professionals and patients are provided in lists for each medicine. These are known as drug analysis prints and can be accessed from the link below:
As Yellow Card reports are made on the basis of suspected, rather than confirmed side effects to medicines, it is not possible to draw definite conclusions on the safety of a particular medicine from the information received on Yellow Card reports alone, without referring to other scientific research.