Manufacture and sale of Dextropropoxyphene based products. (Co-proxamol) was banned in India during 2013 by the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB). The 'Named Patient' facility relied on imports from India from 2008.
In order for the 'Named Patient' scheme to continue the NHS had to Import from Australia until production resumed in India. Production began again during 2016 following the collapse of the Indian palliative care system,
THE NHS PAID £700.00 FOR 100 TABLETS DURING NOVEMBER 2018 When it had been available for Import for approxamately £5.00 since February 2017! https://openprescribing.net/measure/coproxamol/
The government appear to be determined to keep the price of this drug ludicrously high in order to save them from embarrassment regarding their decision to accept the seriously flawed advice from CSM / MHRA in 2005!
Ministers who have continually failed to challenge MHRA’s recommendations for banning Co-proxamol!
Hewitt Patricia Labour May 2005- June 2007Johnson Alan Labour June 2007- June 2009Andy Burnham Labour June 2009 - May 2010Andrew Lansley Conservative/coalition May 2010 - September 2012Jeremy Hunt Conservative/coalition September 2012 - May 2015Jeremy Hunt Conservative May 2015 – July 2018Matthew Hancock 9 July 2018…….
Background History Co-proxamol row heats up as MPs demand U-turn 19th January 2007http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/co-proxamol-row-heats-up-as-mps-demand-uturn/10943576.fullarticleCo-proxamol supply will be guaranteed The Pharmaceutical Journal 27th JAN 2007https://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/news/coproxamol-supply-will-be-guaranteed/10003130.fullarticle?firstPass=false Paul Flynn MP January 03rd 2012MHRA Self-regulation = no-regulation. MHRA gets it wrong again. In 2004 they told me there were 47 deaths in one year from paracetamol. The coroners’ courts proved there were between 500 and 600. MHRA Board Hijacked The MHRA has been hijacked; its board has been infiltrated and is controlled by ‘Big Pharma’. This corrupt board has no right to be in charge. They abuse their positions to make the MHRA do the exact opposite of what it was intended for, which was to protect the British from Big Pharma. Paul Flynn MP, Newport: What credibility does the MHRA have? Recent events have proven that it is not a watchdog; it is a pussycat that purrs in front of the pharmaceutical industry and does what it is told. It has an incestuous relationship with the big pharma and has a close association with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. It has a disgraceful recent record. We can look with gratitude to the work not of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in protecting the public, but to people such as Sarah Boseley of The Guardian for her exposé of the organization, to the television programme “Panorama” and to Richard Brook of Mind, who courageously resigned from the MHRA in disgust at its activities. It is a matter of enormous importance that, in recent history, the regulator is not protecting the 25,000 people who suffered heart attacks and the 7,000 who died from taking a painkilling drug for arthritics that was withdrawn by Merck Sharpe and Dohme in September, after being promoted by the regulator.http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/mar/13/politics.highereducation Howard Stoate Labour, Dartford 4:40 pm, 17th January 2007 (Hansard) A more sensible way forward, as my hon. Friend said, is to make co-proxamol a controlled drug under schedule 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The advantage of doing that is that the potential risks involved in prescribing would be flagged up, but GPs could still prescribe the drug when necessary, and it would be clearly acknowledged in doctors' minds that extra precautions and closer monitoring of patients would be advisable. Schedule 3 status would also send a clear message that co-proxamol is not a first-line drug and that it should be used only after careful consideration of all the available alternatives. It would also give pharmacists the opportunity to reinforce guidance to patients who are on the drug and to ensure that they fully understand the risks and benefits of taking it. The MHRA must trust GPs—who are, of course, in dialogue with their patients—to exercise clinical judgment when it comes to the prescription of Co-proxamol. In view of the potential risks, the decision will not be easy for GPs to make, but we should not forget that they are highly trained, and well paid, to make decisions on a daily basis that require them to tread the fine line between therapeutic benefits and the disadvantages and side effects of drugs.The MHRA should have the courage to rethink its decision to withdraw coproxamol. I hope that, following today's debate, Ministers will agree to lobby the agency for an immediate review of its position. THIS PLEA WAS COMPLETELY IGNORED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH(ALAN JOHNSON, AND UNDER SECRETARY CAROLINE FLINT), AND EVERY DOH MINISTER SINCE!
Co-proxamol had been a completely safe (when tolerated and used correctly) and economical drug which had been used by patients for over 50 years, In total MHRA gained approximately eight million pounds due to the 298 additional ‘Marketing Authorisations’ they had issued for far more dangerous analgesia since the ban! The UK suicide rates were already declining for Co-proxamol while the drug was classed as a POM prior to the ban. Suicide/Open reports had reduced from 296 in 2000 to just 204 in 2004 A 7% REDUCTION HAD BEEN ACHEIVED! Further reductions could have been guaranteed by simply changing the drug classification to ‘Schedule 3 controlled’. I feel sure if the classification had been changed Co-proxamol would have remained on the market today at a very competive price for the NHS! 13th February 2013 ACMD advised Government on tramadol! ACMD adviceThe ACMD advises that tramadol be controlled as a class C substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and listed in Schedule III of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, which it considers would provide the correct controls to prevent diversion and misuse. Prescribing data from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) indicate an increase in prescribing, with the number of Daily Defined Doses (England)1 increasing from approximately 5.9 million in September 2005 to 11.1 million in September 2012. This may be associated with Co-Proxamol’s phased withdrawal from 2005.
Deaths from Tramadol rose from 53 in 2005 to 240 in 2014Deaths from Oxycodone rose from 11 in 2005 to 53 in 2014 Deaths from Codeine rose from 44 in 2005 to 136 in 2014Deaths from Fentanyl rose from 3 in 2005 to 40 in 2014Deaths from Buprenorphine rose from 5 in 2005 to 24 in 2014
The ban has left the NHS over eight million pounds worse off anually due to the prescription price increases! Plus the higher cost for the alternate Inferior medication, and the additional prescriptions GP's have had to issue to counter the horrendous side effects patients have had to endure!
The number of patients admitted for opioid poisoning have risen year on year since 2005, there were 4,891 admissions in 2005-06 reaching 12,254 in 2013, 7363 additional admissions no doubt costing NHS many more millions of pounds!
All the majority of rheaumatoid arthritis sufferers wanted was effective analgesia. This was deliberatly taken away from 1.75 million UK patients by MHRA in order to increase their own income and allow the 'Giant Pharma' companies to ‘Rip Off’ the NHS with more expensive alternate analgesia!
NICE refused to question MHRA on the outright misinformation they distrbuted regarding co-proxamol.
They appear to have accepted the 298 additional MA’s for more expensive and harmful drugs without question despite the facts these medications are actualy harming patients!
Co-proxamol had been used by patients for over 50 years, and could be imported today for just £5.00 per pack. The maximum dose would be 8 tablets daily (212 per month) at a cost to the NHS of just £10.60 per month! (£127.20 annually)
When the ban began Co-proxamol cost just £2.70 the subsequent Governments have caused the price to rise to £700.00 and is directly responsible for the loss of the 'Named Patient' facility which had been guaranteed by Caroline Flint and the MHRA during 2007!
CO-PROXAMOL IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR IMPORT AGAIN FOR JUST £5.00, DEMAND THAT YOUR MP CALLS FOR ITS LICENCE TO BE REINSTATED!
