Allergy patients who carry an Emerade 500 microgram adrenaline auto-injector pen are being advised to return the pens to their pharmacies after a fault was discovered.

The advice from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) (May 18), stated that some of the pens are faulty and do not activate properly. This means that the correct dose of adrenaline required by a patient suffering a severe allergic reaction may not be delivered.

Pharmacists and other healthcare professionals have been asked by the MHRA to ‘contact patients who use Emerade 500 microgram pens’ and ask them to ‘request a new prescription from their prescriber to replace each Emerade 500mcg auto-injector with new 300mcg adrenaline auto-injectors in an alternative brand.’

They should also tell these patients or their carers to return their Emerade 500 microgram auto-injectors to the pharmacy once they have sourced two alternative adrenaline auto-injectors in a different brand.

‘There is evidence to suggest that a single EpiPen 300mcg or Jext 300mcg pen will be a suitable replacement for a single Emerade 500mcg pen,’ the MHRA advised.

The MHRA has recalled the pens in three separate phases spread over the last two months to 'ensure there would be enough supplies of alternative pens'.