Feb. 27 2024
Source Page: Research snapshot: preventing devastating 'river epilepsy'Found: Research snapshot: preventing devastating 'river epilepsy'
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that there is an adequate supply of oxcarbazepine for patients with epilepsy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department was informed of supply issues with oxcarbazepine 150 milligram and 300 milligram tablets by one supplier, which are out of stock until the end of March and the end of February 2024, respectively. Alternative oxcarbazepine tablets remain available. The Department has worked extensively with alternative suppliers and clinical colleagues and has since issued communications to the National Health Service which includes detailed management advice.
While we cannot always prevent supply issues from occurring, the Department has a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise and help mitigate risks to patients. There is a team within the Department that deals specifically with medicine supply problems, and it works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, the devolved administrations, and others operating in the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when shortages do arise.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing children to be issued medical cannabis prescriptions on the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Licensed cannabis-based medicines, that have been proved effective in clinical trials and judged cost-effective by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), are routinely available on the National Health Service, including for people aged over two years old with certain types of epilepsy. However, clinical guidelines from NICE demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines.
We continue to call on manufacturers to conduct research to prove if their products are safe and effective and we are working with regulatory, research and NHS partners to establish clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of these products.
Dec. 13 2023
Source Page: Class 4 Medicines Defect Information: Atnahs Pharma UK Limited, Clobazam Atnahs 5mg/5ml and 10mg/5ml Oral Suspension, EL(23)A/43Found: Clobazam Oral Suspension can be used to treat: Severe anxiety over a short time Epilepsy (fits
Found: Sativex – anecdotal evidence surrounding the use of cannabis to treat epilepsy resulted in a change
Jan. 15 2024
Source Page: Report your medical condition (form BT1)Found: Epilepsy may also occur only as auras, strange feelings or taste, absences or blank spells, limb jerking
Jan. 15 2024
Source Page: Report your medical condition (form BT1V)Found: Epilepsy may also occur only as auras, strange feelings or taste, absences or blank spells, limb jerking
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the use of flashing lighting on speed cameras on people with (a) epilepsy and (b) other conditions triggered by flashing lights.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Speedmeter, Traffic Light and Prohibited Lane Enforcement Camera Handbook v2.0 includes requirements for driver-facing flash units on Home Office Type Approved speed cameras to be below the illumination levels set for vehicle signals by Regulation ECE R65.
Regulation ECE R65 is a United Nations standard for beacons, light bars and other vehicle warning lamps. This regulation is designed to ensure that certain key standards governing light output, light dispersion, flash frequency and colour are being met. It would be a matter for a doctor to decide if an individual is fit to drive a vehicle if they have a medical condition trigged by flashing lights.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure adequate levels of supply of medication prescribed for (a) epilepsy, (b) hormone replacement therapy and (c) ADHD.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has well-established procedures to deal with medicine shortages and works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England and others operating in the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when shortages do arise.
We are aware of a current supply issue with generic lamotrigine 5mg dispersible tablets for epilepsy. We have issued comprehensive management guidance to the National Health Service highlighting the availability of alternative products.
There have been issues with the supply of a limited number of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products, primarily due to very sharp increases in demand, but the supply position for many of those products has improved considerably over the last year. Only one of the 23 Serious Shortage Protocols issued since April 2022 remains in place. We continue to engage with suppliers individually to address these issues and improve resilience in the short, medium and long term. We are also holding quarterly roundtables with manufacturers, wholesalers and community pharmacists to monitor progress and agree what more needs to be done to ensure supply is sufficient to meet demand. The eighth HRT supply roundtable is expected to be held in January 2024.
We are aware of disruptions to the global supply of medicines used for the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Some issues are now resolving. However, we know that there are currently disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. We are working intensively with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues as soon as possible and to ensure patients have continuous access to ADHD medicines in the United Kingdom, in the short and long term.
Feb. 10 2012
Source Page: Table showing the number of apprenticeship programme starts for learning difficulty and/or disability for the years 2006/07 to 2010/11. 1 p.Found: Disabilities350.0-500.0-1370.00.006077647959138273890.0-410.0-610.0-Other Medical Condition (For Example Epilepsy