By ANGELA GREGORY
More than 40 intellectually handicapped people have been prescribed cheap drugs against Ministry of Health guidelines.
Their doctors agreed to switch their brand medication, tegretol, to a cheaper generic substitute, teril, on the suggestion of a medicine management company contracted by the IHC.
Kentra Group wrote to doctors who prescribed the anti-epilepsy drug tegratol advising that teril was significantly cheaper. Forty-four doctors switched.
But one IHC client suffered bad effects and Kentra Group will no longer suggest the brands be interchanged.
A Ministry of Health list of interchangeable medicines does not include the anticonvulsants tegretol and teril.
The ministry advises that anticonvulsant brands should not be interchanged because it could result in different clinical effects.
Its senior medical adviser Dr Stewart Jessamine said the list was a guideline, but doctors should know not to interchange epilepsy drugs: "It is a significant safety issue."
Dr Jessamine said the doctor must obtain informed consent from the patient or caregiver before brands were changed.
The mother of the IHC epileptic who appeared to have problems after taking teril said the family was not told his medicine had been changed.
She has complained to the Health and Disability Commissioner.
The woman said her 30-year-old son broke out in a rash and became agitated and fearful. The symptoms eased after he was put back on tegretol.
Kentra Group director Ken Szeto said that, though it was not yet known whether teril had caused the effects described, the report had highlighted an area of risk.
He said the company was researching the drugs to look for clinical indications that might trigger adverse effects.
This was the first time a bad effect had been reported after using teril.
The doctors who had switched their patients to teril would be asked to notify any problems.
Mr Szeto said it was always up to the GPs whether they changed their patients' medication.
The drugs were dispensed by a pharmacy contracted by Kentra Group.
IHC spokeswoman Elizabeth Goodwin said clients paid for their drugs.
Previously IHC clients' prescriptions were filled by pharmacists, but the process was centralised through Kentra Group so it could be monitored more effectively.
IHC clients sold cheaper drug against guidelines
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