Direct healthcare professional communications
Table of contents
A marketing authorisation holder may send a direct healthcare professional communication (DHPC) to healthcare professionals to inform them of important new safety information about a medicine and any actions they should take. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) publishes DHPCs agreed at European Union (EU) level and links to national registers of DHPCs, as of February 2020.
DHPCs serve to inform healthcare professionals of, for example:
- a suspension, withdrawal or revocation of a marketing authorisation for safety reasons;
- an important change, for example a restriction of indication, a new contraindication or a change in the recommended dose;
- a medicine supply shortage;
- quality problems with a medicine.
DHPCs agreed at EU level include a communication plan specifying the intended recipients and the dissemination date.
National competent authorities may adapt the text agreed at EU level to their specific situation, so the final letter a healthcare professional receives may differ slightly from the version published on the EMA website.
For more information, regulatory guidance and templates, see:
For a list of DHPCs agreed at EU level and published by EMA, see our Medicine search: DHPCs.
National competent authorities publish DHPCs in their official languages.
Please note that the information in these national registers may not be available in English.
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Iceland
Liechtenstein
Norway