Have your say about availability of Epipens & Inhalers for Emergency Use

In late 2013, teenager Emma Sloan lost her life on a street in Dublin due to being in anaphylactic shock and unable to get an epipen without prescription. I wrote about this last May and at the time her mother and her family, friends and volunteers were petitioning to change the law surrounding the availability of EpiPens without prescription.

This Spring, Leo Varadkar Minister for Health, has opened up a public consultation process on the wider availability of a number of prescription only medications, including EpiPens and inhalers, which are used in emergencies. You are invited to have your say and you can read all about it here.

The consultation is not just asking your opinion on whether these medications should be available for emergency use, but also looks for suggestions on how this would work in a real life situation, with non medical staff administering the medication. It is a very important step forward and it is something we should all think about. There are five medications in the consultation for treatment of anaphylaxis, treatment of asthma attacks, treatment of diabetic hypoglycaemia, treatment of opoid overdose and treatment of unstable angina.

How to have your say!

1) Visit this page.

2) Scroll to the bottom of the page and choose which prescription medication you wish to comment on. For example Adrenaline Auto Injectors (epipens). Right click on it and choose ‘Save Link As’. Browse to where you’d like to save the file and click save.

3) Open the file where you saved it. Fill in the questionnaire and save the file.

4) Open a new email and address it to: [email protected] by 13th March 2015.

5) You will receive a confirmation email when it has been received.