Prostasan is "PILs of the month," says UK's MHRA

According to the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) patient information leaflets (PILs) are improving in quality as a result of new legal obligations on manufacturers to test the documents with potential consumers. This makes sure that the presentation of the information enables patients to find and understand key messages for the safe use of the medicine within the PIL and to use these safely and effectively.

To promote the initiative, the MHRA is publishing a series of examples of best practice on its web site.

The latest of these is for the herbal medicines Prostasan, which contains saw palmetto traditionally used for the relief of urinary discomfort in men with benign prostatic hypertrophy. This has recently been registered under a scheme which began in 2005 to ensure herbal medicines meet specific standards of safety and quality, and are accompanied by agreed indications based on traditional use and by patent information that supports the safe use of the product, the Agency explains.