Oral isotretinoin is often prescribed for the treatment of severe acne, acne causing psychosocial burden or scarring, or acne failing standard treatment with oral or topical therapy.
It can be highly effective in managing these cases, however isotretinoin treatment also carries risk as isotretinoin is a potent teratogen, causing severe foetal abnormalities in 15 – 30% of live births. Use of isotretinoin is therefore contraindicated during pregnancy and in women of childbearing potential unless all of the conditions of the Pregnancy Prevention Programme (PPP) are met.
The HPRA has a range of resources available regarding isotretinoin:
Both are available at hpra.ie > Safety Information > Safety Notices.
Educational materials to support implementation of the pregnancy prevention programme are available on the HPRA website. To access them, search using the ‘Find a Medicine’ and select the medicine or the educational material (‘EdM’) symbol.
The aim of this training module is to provide healthcare workers with the skills and knowledge to enable them to identify and manage anaphylaxis while working under the clinical governance of a trained vaccinating pharmacist, particularly when delivering a school based LAIV clinic. See ipuacademy.ie.
This Patient Safety Supplement aims to raise awareness of the risk of paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity (harm to the liver) from standard doses of paracetamol in some adult patients. Paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity may result in acute liver failure, the need for liver transplantation and/or death. Dose adjustments are required for adults:
The supplement also provides information on recommended dosing limits for people at risk of toxicity from standard therapeutic doses of paracetamol.
The supplement is available at www2.healthservice.hse.ie/organisation/nqpsd > Patient Safety Together > Patient Safety Supplements > Paracetamol dosing for adult patients under 50kg and those with additional risk factors for hepatotoxicity.
The PSI pharmacy practice update, Safe Dispensing of Roaccutane® (isotretinoin), provides clarification on the regulatory framework in place to ensure the safe and appropriate dispensing of Roaccutane® (isotretinoin). This is available at psi.ie > Practice supports > Updates and learnings.
Tara Kelly MPSI, Medicines Information Pharmacist, IPU; Sinéad McCool MPSI, Professional Services/IPU Professional Academy, IPU; and Deirbhle Joyce MPSI, Professional Services Pharmacist, IPU
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