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Brand Name: the name given to the medicine by the company that makes the medicine. There may be more than one brand name if more than one company makes the medicine.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Reading the CMI does not take the place of counselling by a health professional.
Always talk to your doctor or pharmacist about all aspects of your medicines, including
why you are taking them and what benefits / risks you can expect.
The CMI for your medicine that is on this web site is the most up-to-date version
available. It may differ from a CMI that you previously received from your doctor
or pharmacist, or in your pack of medicine.
This web site does not contain all CMIs for medicines sold in Australia and not
all medicines have a CMI available for them. If you do not find a CMI for your medicine
on this page, contact the pharmaceutical company who makes the medicine or talk
to your doctor or pharmacist. The information on this web site is intended for use
in Australia only.
Product name
Date released
Actemra SC AI
16 Apr 2020
Actemra contains the active ingredient tocilizumab.
Actemra belongs to a group of medicines called anti-rheumatic agents. There are many
different classes of anti-rheumatic agents. Actemra belongs to a class called monoclonal
antibodies.
Monoclonal antibodies are proteins which specifically recognise and bind to other
unique proteins in the body.
Actemra for subcutaneous injection is used to treat active moderate to severe rheumatoid
arthritis (RA) and giant cell arteritis (GCA) in adults.
It is also used to treat moderate to severe active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic
arthritis (pJIA) in children over 2 years of age and active systemic juvenile idiopathic
arthritis (sJIA) in children and adolescents, aged 1 year and over.
Some of the signs and symptoms of these conditions are caused by the actions of a
protein called interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R).
Actemra works by binding and blocking IL-6R thereby helping to relieve some of the
signs and symptoms of these conditions. For patients with RA, Actemra can also prevent
damage occurring to your joints.
There are different types of medicines used to treat RA, GCA, pJIA and sJIA. Your
doctor, however, may have prescribed Actemra for another purpose.
Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why Actemra has been prescribed for
you.
Actemra is not addictive.
This medicine is available only with a doctor's prescription.
Actiq contains a medicine called fentanyl citrate. Fentanyl is a strong pain-relieving
medicine and belongs to a group of medicine known as opioids.
Actiq lozenge with integral applicator is a system for delivering fentanyl directly
through the lining of the mouth. When you place Actiq in your mouth, it dissolves
and the medicine is absorbed through the lining of your mouth, into the blood system.
Taking the medicine in this way allows it to be absorbed very quickly to relieve your
breakthrough pain.
Breakthrough pain is additional sudden pain that occurs in spite of you having taken
your usual opioid pain-relieving medicines.
Keep using the opioid pain medicine you take for your persistent (around-the-clock)
cancer pain during your Actiq treatment.
Opioid medicines are those that contain active ingredients such as morphine, fentanyl
citrate, codeine, methadone, oxycodone, pethidine or buprenorphine.
The use of Actiq by people who are not taking prescription opioid medicines on a regular
basis could result in life-threatening side effects.
Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why Actiq lozenges have been prescribed
for you.
Your doctor may have prescribed it for another use.
Actiq is only available on a doctor’s prescription.
Do not use if you have ever had an allergic reaction to Actonel or any of the ingredients
listed at the end of the CMI.
Talk to your doctor if you have any other medical conditions, take any other medicines,
or are pregnant or plan to become pregnant or are breastfeeding. For more information,
see Section 2. What should I know before I use Actonel? in the full CMI.
Do not use if you have ever had an allergic reaction to Actonel EC or any of the ingredients
listed at the end of the CMI.
Talk to your doctor if you have any other medical conditions, take any other medicines,
or are pregnant or plan to become pregnant or are breastfeeding.
ACTOS is a tablet that is used to improve the action of the body's naturally produced
insulin. ACTOS is used in the management of type 2 diabetes not controlled by diet.
ACTOS helps to control the level of glucose in your blood when you have type 2 diabetes.
This is the 'adult onset' type of diabetes and is controlled by diet, certain oral
medications and occasionally insulin.
This medicine is also called pioglitazone hydrochloride and belongs to a group of
medicines called glitazones. Glitazones decrease insulin resistance.
Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why this medicine has been prescribed
for you.
Your doctor may have prescribed it for another reason.
ACTOS can be used alone (when diet and exercise is not enough to treat your diabetes)
or together with other anti-diabetic medicines.
This medicine is available only with a doctor's prescription.
The use of ACTOS has not been studied in children.
Adacel is a vaccine used to help prevent whooping cough (pertussis), tetanus and diphtheria.
This vaccine is for use as a booster in persons from the age of 10 years who have
previously received childhood immunisation.
Use of Adacel during pregnancy allows antibodies to be passed to the baby in the womb
from the pregnant woman to protect the baby from whooping cough during the first few
months of life.
Adacel is not intended for childhood immunisation.
The use of Adacel should be determined on the basis of official recommendations and
by your doctor.
Whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria cause significant sickness and sometimes death
in unvaccinated infants, children, and adults.
How it works
Adacel works by causing the body to produce its own protection against whooping cough,
tetanus, and diphtheria. It does this by making substances called antibodies in the
blood, which fight the bacteria and toxins that cause these diseases. If a vaccinated
person comes into contact with these bacteria and toxins, the body is usually ready
to destroy them.
It usually takes several weeks after vaccination to develop protection against these
diseases.
Most people will produce enough antibodies against these diseases. However, as with
all vaccines, 100% protection cannot be guaranteed.
The vaccine will not give you any of these diseases.
The chance of a severe reaction from Adacel is very small, but the risks from not
being vaccinated against these diseases may be very serious.
Do not use if you or your child has ever had an allergic reaction to Adacel Polio
or any of the ingredients listed at the end of the CMI, or if you or your child ever
had a disease of brain without an apparent cause within 7 days of a previous pertussis,
tetanus or diphtheria vaccination. Talk to your doctor if you have any other medical
conditions, take any other medicines, or are pregnant or plan to become pregnant or
are breastfeeding. For more information, see Section 2. What should I know before I use Adacel Polio? in the full CMI.
