Posted by Michael Wonder on 01 Aug 2017
EMA encourages tailored development of medicines for older people
1 August 2017 - EMA invites comments on reflection paper by 31 January 2018.
The EMA is inviting comments from the public on a reflection paper on how medicine developers can better address the needs of older people who take medicines.
In general, older people are the highest users of medicines. According to Eurostat, they are expected to make up almost a third of all Europeans by 2050, and they take more medicines than the rest of the population. Yet, medicines are rarely developed or packaged to take into account their specific needs. For example, some older people can face challenges such as difficulty opening boxes or bottles, reading instructions, swallowing or breaking tablets and capsules, which can result in medicines not being taken as intended, medication errors and ultimately a reduced quality of life.
