Christchurch Medicines Information Service

Definition Prodrugs are inactive precursors designed to be converted to an active form after administration. This is to overcome poor physio-chemical or pharmacokinetic properties of the active drug. Prodrugs – methods of activation Prodrugs are activated by a variety of mechanisms including...

Due to concerns about cancer risks from contamination with NDMA, ranitidine tablets and injection have been unavailable in New Zealand since September 2019, following a global recall by the manufacturers. This bulletin aims to provide information for health professionals about NDMA impurities in ...

Key points The current NZ Sanofi levomepromazine (Nozinan®) 25 mg and 100 mg tablets will be replaced with Swiss Sanofi Nozinan® formulations temporarily from 1st March 2020. They are not bioequivalent. Dose equivalency is 1 x NZ tablet ≈ 0.75 x Swiss tablet. All prescriptions sho...

There are over 240,000 people in NZ currently diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (mostly type 2), and possibly another 100,000 undiagnosed. In October 2018, vildagliptin became the first dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor funded in NZ. It is one of a number of DPP-4 inhibitors used internatio...

Sacubitril + valsartan is now available in New Zealand and fully subsidised under Special Authority criteria. Eligible patients must have NYHA/WHO functional class II, III or IV heart failure; a left ventricular ejection fraction of <35%; and be receiving standard heart failure therapy. It can...

Compliance packs With an ageing population there is increasing incidence of multimorbidity and polypharmacy. This leads to complex dosing regimens. Compliance aids, such as the Medico Paks® or unit dose medication sachets, are widely used to manage complex medication regimes, and help remind...

Patients should be asked if they are wearing a transdermal patch prior to a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan Background A recent case of possible fentanyl toxicity in a patient wearing a transdermal patch during an MRI highlighted the safety issues associated with medication patches in MR...

At the end of February this year all CDHB hospitals switched from using iv infusions of omeprazole to iv intermittent boluses in the treatment regimen for upper gastrointestinal bleeding. This decision (which involved General Surgery, Gastroenterology, Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacy and the Emer...

The discharge prescribing of opioid analgesics, particularly oxycodone, has caused concern nationally and locally. Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) encourages the prescribing of morphine in preference to oxycodone in most situations. In New Zealand the number of community prescriptions for...

Rivaroxaban (Factor Xa inhibitor) and dabigatran etexilate (a direct thrombin inhibitor) are alternatives to warfarin for oral anticoagulation, and to low-molecular weight heparins (LMWH) post-orthopaedic surgery. This bulletin discusses the use of rivaroxaban - important characteristics and pote...