No more need for the sheet folded into twelve in the box. It will soon be possible to consult drug leaflets in digital version. In any case, this is the meaning of the experiment launched this Wednesday by the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM).
Manufacturers who voluntarily participate in the project must now “modify the boxes of their medicines to add a QR code on the boxes in town” to access the digital instructions and “remove the paper instructions for the hospital”, according to a press release from the ANSM.
108 medicines in pharmacies concerned
The pilot phase of the project, which will begin on October 1, 2025 when the modified boxes will be available to pharmacies, should last two years, specifies the health authority. Throughout this phase, the use of electronic notices will be evaluated by representatives of patients, healthcare professionals and manufacturers.
In total, 108 medicines available in pharmacies, including paracetamol, statins used to fight cholesterol or cardiovascular diseases, vaccines or even medicines used to reduce stomach acidity, as well as 475 medicines. hospital, are integrated at this stage of the project.
Videos to accompany the e-notices
The dematerialization of notices should provide patients with “better medical information” since the digital notices hosted in the Public Medicines Database (BDPM) are updated regularly, underlines the medicine policeman.
This development should also promote “better use of medicines” to the extent that the e-notices are accompanied by educational videos which explain how to properly use the medicine, adds the agency.
This project is part of a reflection initiated at the European level and in a logic of ecological responsibility. Similar experiments have been carried out in hospitals in other member states of the European Union, recalls the ANSM. The list of laboratories selected for the pilot phase will be published at the end of January 2025 at the latest.
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