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In a press release published yesterday, the Medicines Agency issued a recommendation to pharmacists who face difficulties in supplying orally administered corticosteroids (prednisone and prednisolone).
Many pharmacies are currently facing difficulties in supplying orally administered corticosteroids: prednisone and prednisolone. In a note published on June 29, the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) authorizes pharmacists, on an exceptional and temporary basis, to directly dispense a prednisone-based medication to replace a prednisolone-based medication (and conversely), if the medicine initially prescribed is not available.
Concretely, if your doctor has prescribed prednisone (in tablet or scored tablet) and it is not available in your pharmacy, your pharmacist can give you prednisolone (effervescent or orodispersible tablet) and vice versa.
As a reminder, these two active substances have the same mechanism of action and are equivalent in terms of dose: 1 mg of prednisone is equivalent to 1 mg of prednisolone. They only differ in their presentation. “This replacement can be carried out provided that the medicine dispensed allows the administration of the dosage prescribed to the patient; the pharmaceutical form of the medicinal products concerned should be taken into account. indicated the ANSM.
Pharmacists who will be required to replace these medications must:
- Write the name of the medicine dispensed on the prescription and inform the prescriber of this change;
- Inform the patients concerned of this replacement and advise them to see their doctor in the event of an adverse effect or symptom that they consider unusual;
- Check for possible intolerances to excipients, which differ from one medication to another.
The laboratories which manufacture these drugs have put in place measures for several months aimed at regulating direct sales to pharmacies and sales from wholesale distributors. The objective is to distribute a limited quantity of corticosteroids to allow a proportionate distribution of available stocks between health professionals throughout the territory. “We are monitoring the situation very carefully: supply forecasts show an improvement with a return to the required level of safety stocks, which will be maintained for at least the next 3 months.”reported the ANSM.