Medication Errors in France: Q&As now published !

The publication of the new version of the French Good Pharmacovigilance Practices in February 2018 brought some confusion regarding the obligation for Marketing Authorization Holders (MAHs) and "Exploitants" to submit specific reports to regulatory bodies outside of the EudraVigilance network.

As mentioned earlier (link to our June2018 post here), we questioned the French Agency about the apparent additional requirement to submit Reports of Medication Errors with no Adverse Reaction, as well as Reports of Abuse or Dependence to medicines containing psychoactive substances.

The response we received brought valuable information and announced the imminent release of a Questions & Answers Document to address the need for clarification. The wait was short and the ANSM has now published this Q&A Document, which provides additional information on the role and obligations of the MAH and "Exploitant".

In line with the response shared earlier, it confirms that there is no obligation for Pharma Companies to submit Medication Errors without adverse reactions to the dedicated ANSM Medication Error Desk. As already mentioned, all confirmed Medication Errors (with or without Adverse Reactions) must be assessed in the corresponding PSUR and taken into account in the evaluation of benefits and risks of Medicinal Products.

In the same way, the Q&A Document clarifies that there is no obligation for MAHs and "Exploitants" to submit reports of abuse or dependence to medicines containing psychoactive substances to the Dependence Evaluation and Information Center (CEIP).

These clarifications will be reflected in the French Good Pharmacovigilance Practices, which should be revised accordingly in the near future.

Please note that the Q&A Document also clarifies the expectations regarding additional aspects of the local Pharmacovigilance System including the responsibilities of the local contact person for Pharmacovigilance, local PSMF, local Signal Detection activities and Risk Management, etc.

➝ Link to ANSM Q&A on the French GVPs (in French)

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Raphaëlle KUHN is a Pharmacist with over 9 years of experience in the pharmacovigilance and clinical trial safety area. She has been working as a Pharmacovigilance Consultant within SUNNIKAN Consulting for 6 years where she supports clients in quality management activities and has conducted over 80 audits internationally.

Raphaëlle also contributes to the monthly Pharmacovigilance Regulatory Intelligence bulletin Safety Observer with regards to the French announcements.

About the reporting of Medication Errors in France...

Although mostly in line with the European legislation, the new version of the French Good Pharmacovigilance Practices published in February 2018 introduced a few new requirements for Marketing Authorization Holders and "Exploitants". As specified in article 4.32, these new obligations include the submission of:

• Reports of Medication Errors with no Adverse Reaction to the dedicated ANSM Medication Error Desk,
• Reports of Abuse or Dependence to medicines containing psychoactive substances through the Dependence Evaluation and Information Center (CEIP-A).

Since the reporting of Medication Errors without Adverse Reactions was not required for Marketing Authorization Holders and "Exploitants" prior to February 2018 and no information on the modalities of reporting were provided (i.e. timelines and format), we contacted the French Agency to request some clarifications. We also asked confirmation regarding the duplicate submission of Reports of Abuse or Dependence to medicines containing psychoactive substances, as those cases are already required to be reported to EudraVigilance (see articles 4.13, 4.14 and 4.15 of the French GVPs).

We have just received a response from the Medication Error Desk, which clarifies that pharmaceutical companies do not have any obligation to report Medication Errors without Adverse Reactions to the ANSM Medication Error Desk. A Questions & Answers Document should be published by the Agency shortly, pending the correction of article 4.32 of the French GVPs. The response included a reminder that confirmed Medication Errors associated or not to an Adverse Reaction must be assessed in the PSUR, as specified in the EU GVP Module VI (see VI.B.6.3). Medication Errors and the risk of Medication Errors must also be taken into account in the framework of the monitoring of the safe use of medicines and the assessment of risks and benefits.

Below is a copy of the response we received from the ANSM Medication Error Desk (in French !):

"Nous vous remercions pour votre message. Nous tenions à vous préciser que les industriels n’ont pas d’obligation à déclarer les erreurs médicamenteuses sans effet indésirable au Guichet Erreurs Médicamenteuses de l’ANSM.

Une Foire aux questions sera prochainement publiée par l'agence dans l'attente d'un rectificatif de l’article 4.32 du chapitre 4 des BPPV.

Néanmoins, l’ensemble des erreurs médicamenteuses avérées ayant entraîné ou non un effet indésirable doivent être évaluées dans le rapport périodique de pharmacovigilance. Il est important que tout signalement d’erreur ou de risque d’erreur soit pris en compte dans le cadre du suivi de la sécurité d’emploi et de l’évaluation du rapport bénéfice/risque."

At this time, we have not received a response regarding reports of abuse or dependence cases, and we will update this blog when this information becomes available.

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Raphaëlle KUHN is a Pharmacist with over 9 years of experience in the pharmacovigilance and clinical trial safety area. She has been working as a Pharmacovigilance Consultant within SUNNIKAN Consulting for 6 years where she supports clients in quality management activities and has conducted over 80 audits internationally.

Raphaëlle also contributes to the monthly Pharmacovigilance Regulatory Intelligence bulletin Safety Observer with regards to the French announcements.

EMA Signal Detection Pilot and New MAs…

The Signal Detection Pilot started on 22-Feb-2018 and concerned MAHs are now required to monitor EudraVigilance data and inform Authorities of validated signals detected in the database. Only those MAHs whose active substances are included in the list of products involved in the pilot are subject to these new requirements.

In March 2018, we published the response we received from the EMA to a question we asked regarding the possible addition of New Active Substances to the list. We were wondering whether the new requirements would apply to companies who get a new substance approved while the pilot is ongoing but the EMA confirmed that the list of substances involved in the pilot is fixed and will not change (link to our March 2018 post here).

Anna Marques, EU QPPV at Eignapharma (link to their website here), was wondering about another scenario: What if you get a new Marketing Authorisation for a product that is already in the list, for instance if you register a new generic product ?

That’s also an interesting question and I would like to thank Anna for accepting to share the response she received from the EMA, which states that the new requirements do not apply to products that became authorised after the start of the pilot. Anna’s exchange with the EMA is available in a comment to our March 2018 post (link to our March 2018 post here).

In conclusion, only companies that were MAHs for products included in the list at the beginning of the pilot are concerned by the new Signal Detection requirements and this will not change during the pilot. I hope this helps !

Thierry Hamard is a Pharmacist with more than 15 years of Global Pharmacovigilance Auditing experience and over 200 PV Audits performed since his company PVFocus was established in 2004.

Thierry is also Chief Editor of Safety Observer, a provider of Regulatory Intelligence services for Pharmacovigilance since 2005.

RSI in Clinical Trials: EU Authorities set Compliance Date

As reported in the December 2017 issue of Safety Observer, the Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA) have published a new version of their guidance document entitled “Questions and Answers – Reference Safety Information (RSI)”.

The new Q&As document explains what information the RSI should include and how it should be presented. Most importantly, it explains how it should be used in the context of applicable expedited (i.e. SUSAR) and periodic (i.e. DSUR) reporting.

If you have not read our blog post from January 2018 on this topic, you should really take the time and get to know the key messages brought by the new guidance: link here

EU Heads of Agencies set compliance date

The CTFG has now published a Cover Note where it acknowledges that the changes brought by the revised Q&As are significant. Although the document should be considered as applicable from the publication date, the Cover Note refers to a 1-year transition period until National Competent Authorities enforce the new requirements more strictly from 01-Jan-2019. The MHRA has also updated the guidance on its website accordingly.

Until then, Clinical Trial Applications and/or Substantial Amendment dossiers will not be rejected if the RSI is not completely in line the new Q&As, provided that the IB contains a RSI section that is considered fit for purpose. However the authorities may raise comments on the RSI and the sponsor will be expected to update the IB accordingly at the next routine update.

→ Direct link to CTFG Cover Note

→ Link to MHRA Clinical trial Guidance

Thierry Hamard (LinkedIn Profile) is a Pharmacist with more than 15 years of Global Pharmacovigilance Auditing experience and over 200 PV Audits performed since his company PV Focus was established in 2004.

Thierry is also Chief Editor of Safety Observer, a provider of Regulatory Intelligence services for Pharmacovigilance since 2005.

EMA Signal Detection Pilot and New Active Substances…

As everyone knows, the New EudraVigilance System was implemented on 22-Nov-2017 and brings enhanced Signal Detection and Data Analysis tools to support safety monitoring directly by MAHs.

As described in the latest revision of GVP Module IX on Signal Management, Marketing Authorisation Holders (MAHs) have a requirement to continuously monitor EudraVigilance data and inform EMA and National Competent Authorities of validated signals detected in the database.

Transitional arrangements have however been agreed in order to streamline the implementation of this new process and during a pilot period of one year starting on 22-Feb-2018, only those MAHs whose active substances are included in the list of products involved in the pilot will be subject to the new requirements.

The list of substances involved in the pilot was first published by the EMA on 27-Oct-2017 and was last corrected on 14-Feb-2018 (Link to EMA Signal Management Page Here).

As initially communicated by the EMA, the list of substances involved in the pilot is based on the list of medicines under additional monitoring in the EU, i.e. the list of Black Triangle Products, which is revised on a monthly basis by the EMA (Link to EMA List of Medicines Under Additional Monitoring Here). And this made us wonder…

Can products be added to the list during the Pilot ?

I have worked for a Start-Up company recently which is awaiting its first Marketing Authorisation in Europe. As the product is a new active substance, it will obviously be added to the list of Black Triangle Products and so we were wondering whether the product will also be added to the list of substances involved in the Signal Detection pilot.

I tried to find the response to this question in the information available on the EMA website but I could not find what I was looking for. And so I sent my question to the EMA.

EMA Says No !

I was pleased to receive a conclusive response within a day, and the EMA confirmed that the list of substances involved in the pilot is fixed and will not change over the duration of the pilot.

I don’t know if many people also wondered about this but I hope this is helpful. I believe the EMA has since removed any reference to the list of Black Triangle Products for the avoidance of doubt.

Here is a copy of the exchange I had with the EMA:

I wonder if you could clarify this for me : I know that the list of products for the Signal Detection pilot is based on the list of products under additional monitoring. If a new product is approved over the next year, it will go to the list of Black Triangle products but what about the Signal Detection pilot ? Will the list of products for the pilot be revised on an on-going basis or is fixed for the year to come ? Many thanks in advance.

Re: EMA request reference ASK-39482

Dear Mr Hamard,

Thank you for your query.

We confirm that the pilot list is fixed i.e. it will not be affected by changes to the additional monitoring list (additions or deletions).

Best regards,

European Medicines Agency

Thierry Hamard is a Pharmacist with more than 12 years of Global Pharmacovigilance Auditing experience and over 200 PV Audits performed since his company PVFocus was established in 2004.

Thierry is also Chief Editor of Safety Observer, a provider of Regulatory Intelligence services for Pharmacovigilance since 2005.