The UK approves Over the Counter Triptan

A version of the drug sumatriptan, called Imigran Recovery, is now available without a prescription in the UK.  There have been rumblings for a while that this would happen, and now the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has given the go ahead for the drug to be sold over the counter.  It will be available starting in mid-June.

There have been a few reasons to hope that drugs like this would be made more available.  For one thing, some research shows that taking the drug earlier has a better chance of stopping the attack.  Eliminating the visit to the doctor enables people to get relief fast, before the symptoms really balloon out of control.  Some patients find their doctors reluctant to prescribe the drug, which means more delays.

As with any move to make a drug more available, this means more freedom and responsibility for the patient.  Some have expressed concern that they wanted advice from a doctor, not just a pharmacist.  A survey was done of members of the Migraine Action Association (MAA), and 51 percent approved of the new ruling, but 39 percent were against it.  The bottom line for most of us is that we need to continue to be personally educated, we need to talk to our doctors at appropriate times, and use drugs like this responsibly.  This is probably only the first of many drugs like this that will be made more available.

Read the MAA’s survey, and some of the comments members made about the debate.