Medicine Supply Notification: Aspirin 150mg and 300mg suppositories

MSN/2022/004

Tier 2 – medium impact

Date of issue: 31/01/2022

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued a medicine supply notification for Aspirin 150mg and 300mg suppositories

  •  Aspirin 150mg and 300mg suppositories are out of stock until mid-April 2022 which will necessitate clinicians reviewing all patients to identify suitable alternatives.

Specials
The following companies have indicated they can supply specials of aspirin suppositories (please note, there may be other companies that can manufacture supplies):

Unlicensed imports

The following importer companies have indicated they can source supplies of aspirin suppositories (please note, there may be other companies that can also source supplies):

If there is currently no listing on dm+d for the imported product for prescribers to select using their prescribing systems, an EPS prescription for unlicensed Aspirin 150mg and 300mg suppositories cannot be issued. Where a prescriber wishes to prescribe an unlicensed import, an FP10 paper prescription should be issued as ‘ Aspirin 150mg or 300mg suppositories (Special Order)‘ and endorsed by the pharmacy as a non-Part VIIIB special with the following information:

  • Amount dispensed over pack size used;
  • Invoice price per pack size from which the order was supplied less any discount or rebate;
  • Manufacturers’/importers’ MHRA licence number;
  • Batch number of the product supplied;
  • Initials ‘SP’

The DHSC Medicine Supply Team provide a monthly update on potential supply issues affecting both primary and secondary care. This update is uploaded on the Specialist Pharmacy Services (SPS) website. To register, you will need  an NHS email address. Once set up and logged in, you will be able to access it online.

New shortages not listed on the SPS website, can be reported using our shortage reporting tool.