FAQ

Home medications are often generics, which can lead to confusion at the time of admission and discharge. The hospital pharmacy simply cannot carry all brands of all medications. This is why the hospital has decided to carry a selection of the medication brands. During your hospitalisation, the medication you take regularly at home will be substituted for medication with the same active ingredients. A document will be issued by the pharmacy listing the substitutions. At the time of discharge, the document will be given to you.
When you go home, you may switch back over to the medication you usually take at home. You do not pay for medication while you are in the hospital.

There are numerous preparations on the market that cannot be crushed due to their structure!
Such preparations include:

Gastro-resistant or enteric-coated preparations

These preparations are meant to:

• Protect the stomach from harmful effects that medication could have
  Example: Asaflow, Carioaspirine, Naprosyn EC
  These medications are coated with a film that does not dissolve in the acidic stomach environment. When this medication passes to the less acidic intestinal environment, the film coating dissolves in the intestinal juices, which allows the medication to be released. You need to swallow these medications with water and without chewing. If these medications are crushed, the film covering can be broken and then come in contact with the medication, which can irritate the stomach or the stomach mucosal lining.

• Protecting the medication from the damaging effects of stomach acid
  Example: Creon (Pancreatic enzymes): capsules with granules (little balls) that are resistant to gastric juices
  A gastro-resistant film keeps the enzymes in the granules from being broken apart in the gastric environment. When the granules pass to the intestine, the film dissolves and the pancreatic enzymes are released, when and where they are needed. If the granules are crushed, the film breaks apart. If this powder is swallowed, the pancreatic enzymes are then broken down by the stomach acid and the medication is rendered ineffective.

Preparations with delayed or slow release

There is a second major advantage of using delayed release preparations:

1. Medications should be taken less often, which improves treatment compliance.
2. Fluctuations in plasma levels and peak concentrations can be avoided.

Example: Adalat Oros 30 mg
Adalat oros contains 30 mg of nifedipine, which is released over the course of 24 hours using a pump system, allowing it to be taken only once a day. If crushed, the pump structure is destroyed and, if taken like this, the 30 mg of nifedipine are suddenly all consumed, leading to an overdose.

If you would like to find out if your medication can be crushed, please consult www.pletmedicatie.be

Our pharmacy may only supply medication that is used in the hospital or medication that is not available in the community pharmacy. The latter can only be delivered on prescription of a physician of our hospital.