The report follows a commission from Professor Dame Sally Davies which came off the back of the most recent media battle surrounding the risk vs benefit analysis of certain drugs - the most well-known being statins.
The report has also called for changes to patient information leaflets (PILs) to make them easier to read and understand.
After an increase in prescriptions for certain drugs, such as statins, as a result of the NHS decision in 2014 to lower the threshold for their release to patients, concerns have been raised by those in the healthcare profession about the lack of consideration regarding the possible side effects of more wide scale prescribing. The concerns raised by the healthcare industry have led to a growing fear that the threats of serious side effects are causing patient adherence levels to drop.
The report criticises PILs and their focus on negative outcomes through a long list of possible side effects as opposed to the potential positive consequences of taking the drug. The risk is that the focus on negative outcomes will lead to scaremongering amongst the general public. Practical solutions to the problems highlighted by the report include more transparency on drug labelling and a traffic light system regarding the reliability of findings surrounding the drug in question.
This report highlights a serious issue of mistrust in the industry - both by clinicians and patients. This may not seem like big news initially as mistrust in the industry by patients is not new. One of the biggest hurdles big pharma often faces is public opinion that they have a 'profit first' mentality.
However, the suggestion that PILs, leaflets put in place to inform and protect the patient, are actually scaring patients into refusing to take their medicine is an issue which needs to be addressed in order to maintain patient adherence and prevent costly resolutions having to be put in place by an already overburdened NHS. Organisations may wish to take this report as a warning and review their own processes and data resources to ensure the discovery, development and commercialisation of drugs within their remit withstands scrutiny and whatever regulatory storm which may follow the release of this report.