Patients will be able to directly report unexpected side effects of prescription drugs to a medicines watchdog, the government has said. The Medicines Healthcare and products Regulatory Agency (MRHA) is to pilot different ways of submitting reports. Patients may be able to use the Internet or forms in their GP’s surgery to register comments. The existing Yellow Card scheme which monitors adverse drug reactions is based on reports from doctors. The proposal to add patient reports to the information drug experts have is one of a series of recommendations made by experts reviewing the scheme. It was set up in 1964, following the Thalidomide scandal, to provide a system for the early detection of emerging drug safety hazards and the routine monitoring of all medicines in clinical use. Direct patient reporting will be rolled out immediately. But other recommendations, including widening access to Yellow Card data to academics and researchers, and for the MHRA to publish anonymised data on their website for the public to view, will be put out for consultation.
