The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7274
8 November 2003

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Leading Articles PDF (55K)   634

This year, next year 634
Text  
Only now are the repeat dispensing pathfinder sites in England beginning to get going — over a year after the 30 primary care trusts involved in the first wave were named. Applications for the second wave are due in next week, although the Department of Health has given a strong indication that it does not want to be inundated with requests to participate

Beyond the Charter 634
Text  
Although there is still a week before the consultation on the revised draft Charter closes, there is a simultaneous consultation process going on that many members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society may have forgotten. By the beginning of December views on the structures underpinning the reformed Council are meant to have been put forward


News & Features   635-640

News summary 635-639
Text   PDF (290K)

Repeat dispensing schemes get going 640
Text   PDF (70K)
Some repeat dispensing pathfinder sites have overcome the technological problems and have started issuing and dispensing from “master” repeat prescriptions. Clare Bellingham investigates the positive side of the repeat dispensing schemes


Products PDF (80K)   641

• Products Text 641
• Announcements Text 641

• Drug tariff updates Text
• Recalls & Drug alerts Text


Letters PDF (95K)   642-645

Text  
Modernisation (Charter) / The Register / Ramipril / Needle exchange


Continuing Professional Development (CPD)   646-648
Recent articles

Hormone replacement therapy series

(2) Risks and benefits  646-648
PDF (95K)
By Nuttan Tanna, PhD, MRPharmS
This article considers the risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy, taking recent published data in to consideration


Original Papers   649-653

Adherence from across the pond: six years of experience with beta-interferons for multiple sclerosis 649-653
PDF (100K)
By Helen Tremlett, PhD, MRPharmS, and Joel Oger, MD, FRCPC
Aim • To investigate issues surrounding the interruption of therapy with the three licensed beta-interferons (IFNBs) prescribed for multiple sclerosis (MS)


Meetings and Conferences   654-655
Reports

Primary and Community Care Pharmacy Network 654
Text   PDF (60K)
The Primary and Community Care Pharmacy Network held its annual conference in Brighton from 13 to 14 October. Jane Swan, chief pharmacist at Gedling Primary Care Trust, Nottingham, reports

Doing dispensing differently 655
Text   PDF (70K)
Should pharmacists give up or delegate dispensing to technicians? This was a question raised at the Webstar Health “Doing dispensing differently” conference in London on 23 October. Hannah Pike reports


Onlooker PDF (85K)   656

Cannabis question Assessments of the health hazards posed by the use and abuse of cannabis are notoriously flimsy. Any mention of their dangers in comparison with those posed by other drugs of abuse tends to develop into a pointless argument Text

Dangerous ethanol A disturbing report by Stephen Pincock is published in the 4 October issue of The Lancet. He writes that a government document has recently shown an increase in alcohol consumption linked to a greater incidence of cirrhosis and premature deaths. It claims that on 40 per cent of occasions when men go out to drink they consume at least four pints of beer, equivalent to eight units of ethanol, twice the recommended daily guideline Text

Publishing research Recent instances of the unreliability of some scientific research papers have prompted the Royal Society to undertake an investigation into the ways in which the evidence unearthed during research is brought into the public domain Text

Path to tranquillity And yet it is always conducive to tranquility of mind to examine if possible oneself and one's fortunes, but if that is not possible ... Text


The Society PDF (170K)   657-662

Charter links and articles

Any structures that underpin reformed Council must satisfy five key tests Text 657-659
The future of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain appears to be hanging in the balance, says Marcus Longley. Are the members to be sold out, or is their future to be properly secured? In this article, he looks at the underlying issues

News
• President welcomes new Scots pharmacists to the register Text 659
• Workforce census Text 662

Statutory Committee
• Striking-off for theft from employer Text 660
• Application for restoration to register is “premature” Text 660
• Dispensing errors lead to reprimand for pharmacist Text 661
• No restoration for locum convicted of drug theft Text 661


Diary Text

• Branch meetings Text 662
• Society meetings Text
• Future events Text 641
• Conferences Text
• Reunions Text

Front Cover Picture
Slow progress has been made with repeat dispensing schemes at pathfinder sites in England owing to problems with information technology (p635). However, some sites have overcome these problems and this week’s front cover picture (by Christopher Icha) illustrates a news feature, in which Clare Bellingham investigates the positive side of the repeat dispensing schemes
See also Leading article

Society challenged
The Save Our Society group has issued a call to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to follow regulatory principles set out by a Government task force as the Society seeks to replace its Royal Charter. The Society says that it has

HRT
The second article in our continuing professional development series on hormone replacement therapy considers the risks and benefits of HRT, taking in to consideration recent published data (PDF 95K)

Beta-interferons for MS
Research from the United States shows that a high proportion of patients taking beta-interferon for multiple sclerosis stopped therapy because of a perceived lack of efficacy (PDF 100K)

Possible Society structure
An article in the Society section suggests five key tests for the proposed new structures which could feed into the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s new Council
See also Leading article