PJonline news feed

Stop smoking campaigns should promote unassisted quit methods

Stop smoking campaigns should promote the message that most smokers quit the habit on their own without relying on cessation therapies

Contaminated heroin causes anthrax in England

England has seen its first case of anthrax appearing in an injecting drug misuser, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and NHS London have confirmed

High-coverage HPV vaccine use associated with protection against cervical cell abnormalities and genital warts

Use of a high-coverage human papillomavirus vaccin active against HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18, can give women almost complete protection against cervical cell abnormalities and drastically reduce the risk of genital warts, results from a large-scale international study suggest

Patient safety is at risk because of a shortage of hospital pharmacists, Health Secretary is warned

Patients are at risk because NHS hospitals have only three-quarters of the number pharmacists they need, Health Secretary Andy Burnham has been told

Integration between services needed in providing out-of-hours care, pharmacy adviser says

More integration between healthcare services is needed in providing out-of-hours care and pharmacists should become more involved in this care, a pharmacist who contributed to the latest Government review on out-of- hours services has said

New treatment for bone cancer patients launched

Bone cancer patients can now benefit from a new treatment aimed at children and young adults who have undergone surgery for their cancer

Millions of patients give their prescription drugs to friends and family

Just over six million patients are giving their unwanted prescription medicines to their friends and family in the mistaken belief that they are helping them, according to research released today (5 February 2010) by Lloydspharmacy

Pharmacy payment process for AMS now automated

Payments to pharmacies for prescriptions dispensed under Scotland’s acute medication service have been automated by the Practitioner Services Division

Nationally agreed payments for pharmacists should have been in place for pandemic flu service provision

Pharmacists should have been provided with a national fee framework for delivering the pandemic influenza service, said Kevin Noble of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Pharmaceutical Committee at an All-Party Pharmacy Group briefing on swine flu this week (3 February 2010)

Study suggests extra indications for trastuzumab

More patients with breast cancer could be considered for treatment with trastuzumab, industry-funded research suggests

BOPA provides guidance on how to check oncology prescriptions

Greater uniformity in pharmacy checks of oncology prescriptions could be achieved across Britain with the recent publication of standards by the British Oncology Pharmacy Association

NICE publishes guidance on reducing risk of VTE in hospitals

Guidance on reducing the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in hospitals has been produced by the National Clinical Guideline Centre

Record brand when dispensing epoetins, EMEA suggests

When prescribing epoetins, healthcare professionals should record the brand name (or generic name plus manufacturer) in the patient notes, the European Medicines Agency’s Pharmacovigilance Working Party has recommended

Ustekinumab more effective and tolerated better than etanercept

Ustekinumab is more effective and causes fewer side effects than etanercept when treating psoriasis, research suggests

Study claims low HbA1c increases mortality risk

Patients with type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of death if their HbA_1c levels are too low, as well as if they are too high, according to a study published online

Everolimus better than paclitaxel when eluted from stents

Everolimus-eluting stents used in percutaneous coronary intervention provide better outcomes for patients than do paclitaxel-eluting ones, a study reports

Benefit from antidepressants linked to severity of depression

The benefit derived from antidepressant medicines increases as the severity of depression worsens, a meta-analysis suggests

Do not underestimate the challenge facing the NHS

Government funding for the NHS has increased annually for over 60 years. From next year, and for the following three years, it will be cut. How might those working in hospital pharmacies be affected?

WHO model formulary 2008 (book review)

‘WHO model formulary 2008’. World Health Organization. Pp x+644. Price $28. Geneva: WHO Press; 2008. ISBN 978 92 4 154765

The Maudsley: prescribing guidelines (book review)

‘The Maudsley: prescribing guidelines’ 10th edition, by David Taylor, Carol Paton and Shitij Kapur. Pp xv+523. Price £50. London: Informa Healthcare; 2009. ISBN 978 1 84184 699 6