Women with overactive bladders could find relief with over-the-counter medicine

Women with overactive bladders could get tablets over the counter for the first time under new proposals. 

Regulators are consulting on making changes to make it easier for millions of women to access medication without having to see their GP. 

It is estimated that around one in six women in the UK have symptoms associated with overactive bladder, such as the sudden, uncontrolled need to urinate that can lead to accidental leaks.

The call for evidence, launched on Saturday, could lead to the medicine Aquiette being reclassified so that it can be obtained at a pharmacy without a prescription.

The tablets are used to treat women with milder symptoms of the condition which cannot be controlled by bladder training alone.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is calling on people with the condition, as well as healthcare professionals with experience of treating it, to share their views in the reclassification consultation.

Dr Laura Squire, chief healthcare quality and access officer at the MHRA, said: “For many women, an overactive bladder can make day-to-day living extremely challenging.

“It can impact on relationships, on work, on social life, and it can lead to anxiety and depression.

“Fortunately there are treatments around and from today you will have a chance to have your say on whether one of those treatments, Aquiette, can be available for the first time without a prescription.”

Maria Caulfield, minister for women’s health, said: “When it comes to sensitive issues such as bladder control, speaking to a GP may act as a barrier for some women to seek help.

“Reclassification of Aquiette would enable women to access vital medication without needing a prescription.”

The Commission on Human Medicines has been consulted and advised that it is safe for these products to be made available as a pharmacy medicine. This means that women seeking to buy the tablets would need to ask a pharmacist, but would not need a prescription.

Earlier this year watchdogs opened consultation on proposals to offer some forms of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) over the counter. The MHRA is proposing to reclassify vaginal oestrogen tablets so that for the first time women could purchase them over the counter. 

It comes amid widespread shortages of other HRT products. Earlier this week MPs warned that women have been left “unable to work or sleep” because of the scarcity of some forms of medication amid a doubling in demand in the last five years.