MORE THAN 2,700 suspected adverse reactions to human medicines on the Irish market were reported to the body responsible for licensing those products, the Irish Medicines Board (IMB), last year.
These reports of adverse reactions related to a wide range of products and ranged “from minor to serious” with “a small number” resulting in a fatal outcome, the IMB said.
It added that it was not possible to be definitive in relation to the number of cases that resulted in a fatal outcome as some were also associated with other treatments and/or surgery, as well as underlying illness and/or disease progression.
Most of the reports of adverse reactions – over 1,600 of them – were made by the licence holders for the drugs in question, while 253 were made by GPs, 152 by hospital doctors and 132 by pharmacists.
The IMB confirmed it had also received four reports of adverse reactions to the weight-loss drug Alli since it was made available over the counter in pharmacies earlier this year.
“All reports involved gastro-intestinal disorders and are consistent with the type of effects known to occur. The IMB is closely monitoring experience with use of Alli nationally,” it said.
Pat O’Mahony, chief executive of the IMB, said a total of 299,053 tablets, 55,789 capsules, 24 litres of liquids and 36.5kg of creams being illegally imported after they were ordered on the internet were seized last year.
But he admitted this was still probably only “the tip of the iceberg”.
He said it didn’t appear people were ordering online to get cheaper products such as cholesterol-lowering drugs or asthma inhalers as it was mainly lifestyle drugs like medicines for erectile dysfunction and weight loss that were being seized.
These were probably being ordered online because people were shy about discussing them with their doctor, he said.
But he warned up to 50 per cent of drugs ordered in this way could be counterfeit medicines and in taking them people could be putting their health at risk. It was important the public was aware of safety in this regard, he stressed, as in some cases these drugs could contain only a small amount of an active ingredient while in other cases they might contain way too much.
Mr O’Mahony said the IMB had no role in setting the price of medicines in the Republic – which are significantly higher than in many other European countries – but he acknowledged there shouldn’t be such a disparity between prices in the Republic and the North. “There should be no real difference between the UK and the Irish market. We are smaller but we’re not that small,” he said.