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Spotlight

Every month, the subjects in Prescrire’s Spotlight.

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Spotlight

100 most recent
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France's health technology assessment body: pushed to lower the bar!

Outlook The HAS's new principles for rating drugs, designed to facilitate access to new treatments, allow lower-quality evaluation. This may not be in patients' best interests.
Full article available for download (free)

1 December 2023

Drugs to avoid: an analysis of Australia’s pharmaceuticals market

Outlook A study by Australian academics, based on Prescrire’s annual review of drugs to avoid.
Full article available for download (free)

1 December 2023

Proposed multi-stakeholder platform to improve clinical trials in the European Union

Advancing Healthcare Policy Prescrire has responded to the consultation on the proposed key priorities for the platform, but chose not to apply for membership, in order to safeguard its independence.
Full article available for download (free)

1 December 2023

Flexibility

Editorial Healthcare professionals often specify how and when medicines should be taken when prescribing, dispensing or administering them, whether or not this information is included in the patient leaflet. These instructions are usually based on information provided in the summary of product characteristics, but is the level of evidence sufficiently strong to serve as a basis for hard and fast rules?
Full article available for download (free)

1 November 2023

Tebentafusp (Kimmtrak°) in metastatic uveal melanoma

Marketing Authorisations Tebentafusp, a fusion protein consisting of a T cell receptor fused to an anti-CD3 antibody fragment, has been authorised in the European Union for the treatment of metastatic or inoperable uveal melanoma, in HLA-A*02:01-positive patients. About half of the population of western Europe are HLA-A*02:01-positive. Does tebentafusp extend survival in this situation? And what are its adverse effects?
Full article (2 pages) available for download by subscribers

1 November 2023

Biotin: misleading thyroid function test results

Adverse Effects Biotin, present in dietary supplements in particular, can lead to false results with serum-based thyroid function tests.
Full article available for download by subscribers

1 November 2023

Evaluation of new drugs and medical devices in Europe: a highly critical report from the KCE

Outlook In late 2021, the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE) published a detailed and highly critical report assessing the conditions under which new drugs and medical devices enter the European market. The report includes a list of recommendations for ensuring that the different stakeholders involved (patients, healthcare professionals, health technology assessment agencies, reimbursement approval bodies and payers) have access to the necessary comparative evaluations before new health products enter the market.
Full article (2 pages) available for download by subscribers

1 November 2023

When should levodopa be taken: with meals or between meals?

Queries and Comments Different sources (summaries of product characteristics, prescribing information) give very different recommendations on how to take levodopa, the first-choice drug for reducing the motor disorders of Parkinson’s disease. Prescrire's answer to a volunteer from a French patient group points out the absence of robust clinical evaluation data and proposes a pragmatic approach.
Full article available for download by subscribers

1 November 2023

Diclofenac: also harmful for the environment

Outlook Diclofenac, a drug with widespread presence in the environment, has well-demonstrated environmental toxicity. Another reason not to choose diclofenac.
Full article available for download (free)

1 November 2023

Remdesivir (Veklury°) in covid-19 at increased risk of progression to severe disease, or in children on oxygen

Covid-19 In a double-blind randomised placebo-controlled trial in 562 unvaccinated patients with covid-19 (before the emergence of the Omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2) who did not require supplemental oxygen, a 3-day course of remdesivir reduced the proportion of patients hospitalised for acute care over the 28-day follow-up period. It is unclear whether these results can be transposed to the epidemiological context of 2023 in which a high proportion of the population has been immunised through vaccination or prior infection with Sars-CoV-2, and Omicron is by far the most dominant variant.
Full article available for download by subscribers

1 November 2023

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