Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) health risks and (b) psychiatric side effects of oral corticosteroid treatments.

Oral corticosteroids have been used for many years in the treatment of a wide range of illnesses including allergic and inflammatory diseases, immune reactions and certain cancers, and for replacement therapy where the body does not produce enough cortisol.

Corticosteroids are life-saving medicines but have a wide range of side effects, including psychiatric side effects. These can include serious effects such as suicidal thoughts, psychotic reactions and behavioural disturbances. Symptoms typically emerge within a few days or weeks of starting the treatment. Patients and/or their carers should be warned by the prescribing physician that potentially severe psychiatric adverse reactions may occur with oral corticosteroids and encouraged to seek medical advice if any worrying psychological symptoms develop.

Other side effects of corticosteroids, particularly when taken long-term, include increased susceptibility to infection, disturbances of the nervous system, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, suppression of the adrenal glands, stomach ulcers and changes to the eye (glaucoma and cataract).

A detailed list of the side effects known to occur with corticosteroids is available in the product information for prescribers (the Summary of Product Characteristics and Patient Information Leaflet which are produced by the manufacturer and authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for each product. Key side effects are also detailed in the British National Formulary. As with all medicines, the safety of corticosteroids is kept under review by the MHRA and product information is updated and warnings issued when necessary.