Emerade® – supply disruption alert

Emerade® – DHSC has issued advice following the recall of all strengths of Emerade®

Following the recall of all strengths of Emerade® prefilled pen  (on 28 November 2019) the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued a supply disruption alert (SDA) providing advice for healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, to issue to patients/carers administering adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs).

Pharmacists and pharmacy teams should be aware that:

• The DHSC has issued detailed guidance which includes:
  • Options for patients requiring ongoing treatment
    • Patients with in-date Emerade® pens can continue use and a supply of alternative AAI brands (EpiPen®/Jext®) for patients with expired/used Emerade® pens
  • A reminder to healthcare professionals in all healthcare settings including community pharmacists that adrenaline ampoules should be stocked for use as part of an anaphylaxis kit, AAIs should be reserved for supply to patients
  • A reminder for patients/carers on appropriate use of AAIs, including storage, training and the need to carry two in-date AAIs at all times
  • The extension of expiry dates for certain batches of EpiPen® (300 micrograms) and Jext® (150 micrograms; 300 micrograms)
  • The prescription validation process for the EpiPen® brand and restrictions for community pharmacies ordering Jext®

• It may be convenient to retain a hard copy of the SDA for pharmacists to use in the dispensary of busy pharmacies. It can aid discussions with patients/carers and prescribers for pharmacies dispensing regular prescriptions for Emerade® pens.

Further information and support from the NPA

To support community pharmacies, we have created a dedicated ‘adrenaline stock availability table’ which is updated regularly to reflect the latest stock availability of AAIs and adrenaline solution for injection ampoules. This open-access resource can be accessed by all community pharmacies.

Please refer to the previous news item, “Adrenaline – urgent patient safety update and reminder on ordering process for EpiPen®, and stock availability” (log in details for the NPA website required) for further information on the Epipen® prescription validation process, supply of AAIs to schools and for use in GP practice, use of adrenaline ampoules in anaphylaxis kits and additional NPA patient safety support.

For further information please contact the NPA Pharmacy Services team:

• Telephone 01727 891800 — 9am to 6pm (Mon-Fri) and 9am to 1pm (Sat)
• Email us anytime at pharmacyservices@npa.co.uk

Produced by the NPA Pharmacy Services team, 3 December 2019.