Cardiovascular patients to avoid mega-3 fatty acid medicines, EMA says

02/04/2019 News Europe , Policy , Top News UEMO 1322 Views
Cardiovascular patients to avoid mega-3 fatty acid medicines, EMA says

The European Medicines Agency has confirmed that omega-3 fatty acid medicines containing a combination of an ethyl ester of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) at a dose of 1 g per day are not effective in preventing further problems with the heart and blood vessels in patients who have had a heart attack. This is the outcome of a re-examination requested by some of the companies that market the medicines concerned, following EMA’s original recommendation in December 2018.

This means that these medicines should no longer be used in this way. However, they can still be used to reduce levels of certain types of blood fat called triglycerides.

As a result, EMA concluded that the marketing authorisations of these medicines should be updated to remove this use.

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