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Reclassification of pregabalin and gabapentin to Schedule 3
Pregabalin and gabapentin will be reclassified to Schedule 3 drugs from 1 April 2019.
Drugs will be subject to prescription writing requirements 

Pregabalin and gabapentin will be reclassified to Schedule 3 from 1 April 2019, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate has confirmed.

The move comes after experts highlighted increasing numbers of fatalities linked to the drugs, which are used to treat nerve pain, epilepsy and anxiety. The change means it will be illegal to possess pregabalin and gabapentin without a prescription and it will be illegal to supply or sell the drugs to others.

Concerns about the drugs were first raised in 2016 by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). The group recommended that pregabalin and gabapentin should be controlled as class C Drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

On accepting the advice, the government launched a public consultation to assess the impact on the healthcare sector. Doctors, drug firms, pharmacies and patients all responded to the consultation supporting tighter controls.

Home Office minister Victoria Atkins said: “Any death related to the misuse of drugs is a tragedy. We accepted expert advice and will now change the law to help prevent misuse of pregabalin and gabapentin and addiction to them.

“While drug misuse is lower now than it was 10 years ago, we remain committed to reducing it and the harm it causes. That is why we have published a comprehensive strategy to tackle the illicit drug trade, protect the most vulnerable and help those with drug dependency to recover and turn their lives around.”

From 1 April 2019 Pregabalin and gabapentin will be exempt from safe custody requirements and will be subject to prescription writing requirements. Furthermore, the drugs must be dispensed with 28 days of the prescription being written.

For more information about the reclassification email postmaster@vmd.defra.gsi.gov.uk

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RCVS Knowledge appoints Veterinary Evidence editor-in-chief

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has welcomed Professor Peter Cockcroft as editor-in-chief for Veterinary Evidence.

A world-renowned expert in evidence-based veterinary medicine, Prof Cockcroft will lead the strategic development and editorial quality of the open-access journal. He was previously in the role from 2017-2020.

Katie Mantell, CEO of RCVS Knowledge, said: "We are excited about the extensive knowledge of evidence-based veterinary medicine and clinical veterinary research that Peter brings, and we look forward to working with him over this next phase of the journal's development." 

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News Shorts
CVS Group hit by cyber attack

CVS Group, which owns more than 450 veterinary practices in the UK, has been hit by a cyber attack.

In a statement, the group said the incident involved unauthorised external access to a limited number of its IT systems. As soon as the attack was discovered, the group took its IT systems temporarily offline, causing 'considerable operational disruption'.

It has warned that the security steps taken and ongoing plans to move its operational systems and IT infrastructure to the Cloud are likely to have an ongoing impact over a number of weeks.

Due to the risk that personal information was accessed, CVS has informed the Information Commissioner's Office. The company is working with third party consultants to investigate the incident.