Comment on article in Daily Mail Good Health
25th January 2011 Following a recent article in the Daily Mail the ACSM, Association of Commercial Specials Manufacturers, is keen to reassure patients of the need for specials or unlicensed medicines. The article raised questions about the necessity of providing specially prepared liquid forms of common medicines for some patients. Although the ACSM cannot comment on the details of the drug preparation in the article, in general, unlicensed medicines are prescribed by a doctor to meet a patient’s specific clinical need, for example, allergy to drug excipients or inability to swallow. In these instances a doctor may decide to prescribe a special if there is no licensed alternative available to give to the patient. Splitting and crushing tablets is not a satisfactory alternative as it does not always result in the patient receiving the correct formulation leading to a patient getting a much higher or much lower dose than is prescribed. Anyone who has concerns