The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 pp455-490 No 7498
19 April 2008

Jobs and Classified advertising

Leading Articles   456

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Talking, listening and acting 456
One of the candidates in this year’s Royal Pharmaceutical Society Council election writes in Letters this week: “The single most important thing to me is that members’ opinions are actively sought, listened to, and acted upon.”
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Make friends with your local dentists 456
Community pharmacists are usually urged to develop good relationships with GPs but they should not overlook the importance of developing relationships with other health professionals
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News & Features   457-468

News summary  457-464
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Headlines   PDF (240K)

Lead stories
-EC plan to relax patient information rules oppose
-Boots lines up more GP services as second in-store surgery opens its doors to patienrts
-NHS Alliance wants GPs to reclaim out-of-hours care
-Serious failings identified by HM Chief Inspector of prisons at private prison pharmacy in Wales
-Switching trimethoprim will not lead to increased resistance
-Vildagliptin and nelarabine given green light for use in NHS Scotland
-Setback for GSK over drug distribution in Greece
-Prasugrel cuts ischaemic events with stents more than clopidogrel
-Role in tackling health inequalities put to MPs
-Antidepressants might contribute less than thought to suicide rate

Building blocks of a professional body 465-466
As well as providing details about the scope and functions of a future professional body for pharmacy, Nigel Clarke’s recently published report sets out what possible organisational structures could support this vision — and how these might be implemented. Matthew Wright reports
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Cautious welcome for education reform 467-468
The recent pharmacy White Paper sets out proposals to develop undergraduate education so that future pharmacists have the clinical, professional and leadership competencies to deliver the services of the future. Dawn Connelly explores how the proposals have been received by the profession
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POEMs   464

POEMs series

Naproxen effective for cold symptoms, specifically the reduction of cough 464
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Products   469

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Products   469
-SPC changes
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Announcements   469
-Bicalutamide in BNF
-MUR accreditation
-Keele University
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Drug tariff updates   469
-England and Wales (April prescriptions)
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Broad Spectrum   470

“Would you trust your ‘chemist’ to check your health?” We must deliver 470
By Alan Rogers
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Letters   471-474

-The Society
-Council election
-White Paper
-Professional body
-Combivent discontinuation
-Community pharmacy
-Medicines use reviews
-Controlled Drugs
-Workload
-Extended services
-Libraries
-Registration
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Agenda   475

Agenda articles

Pharmacists should dispense information 475
By Steve Tomlin
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Continuing Professional Development (CPD)   477-480

Recent articles

Hepatitis
An overview of hepatitis: part 2   477-480
In part 2 of this overview of hepatitis, Gareth Nickless looks at viral hepatitis and its treatment
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Summary   PDF (80K)

Articles   476, 481-483

The new NICE guidance on antimicrobial prophylaxis against infective endocarditis 476, 481
New guidance from NICE on antimicrobial prophylaxis against infective endocarditis offers best practice advice that is vastly different from current practice. Nick Cooley discusses the new NICE guideline and compares it with previous guidance from other sources
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Summary   PDF (40K)


Landmark drugs
Propofol has withstood the test of 20 years at the forefront of anaesthesia 482-483
In the seventh article in a series on landmark drugs, Jenny Bryan looks at propofol, an intravenous anaesthetic that remains in mainstream use
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Summary   PDF (50K)

Meetings   484-485

Reports index

Scotland gathers to discuss Clarke 484-485
Leading pharmacists in Scotland, including representatives from NHS Boards, the Scottish Schools of Pharmacy, the Scottish Government, Community Pharmacy Scotland and the Scottish Pharmacy Board, met to discuss the recommendations of the Clarke Inquiry. Clare Bellingham reports
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Athena   486

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Yak-milk cheese for health 486
Found mainly in the highlands of the Nepalese Himalayas, Indian Kashmir, Tibet, Mongolia and Bhutan, the yak is a large, shaggy, horned animal able to survive at temperatures as low as –40C and at altitudes where the atmospheric pressure is little more than half that at sea level
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How the pill can be of help to IVF patients 486
With a growing number of people in the UK undergoing in vitro fertilisation treatment, the implications of treatment on women’s stress, anxiety and sick leave needs to be addressed. Anything that can make IVF more convenient and efficient would go a long way in reducing the agony of an already heart-breaking process
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Be good, do good, feel good 486
Back in the fourth century BC, Aristotle wrote: “The many, the most vulgar, seemingly conceive the good and happiness as pleasure, and hence they also like the life of gratification. Here they appear completely slavish, since the life they decide on is a life for grazing animals.”
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Fighting infection by computer 486
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Teaching the subject of biology through the medium of computer games seems the next step in our technology-friendly culture. Indeed this fluid and interactive medium may provide a new tone for science education
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SPB to seek members’ views at series of roadshows 487
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Statutory Committee Reports
“Shambolic” procedures lead to striking-off 487
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Official notices 2001 to present

Annual general meeting 488
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Council election 488
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Disciplinary Committee meeting 488
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Disciplinary Committee directions and orders 488
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Obituaries & tributes 489

Obituaries
-Cornforth
-Gould
-Robinson

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My career   490

Careers

Clinical pharmacy in a GP surgery 490
The pharmacist’s skills as a medicines expert can provide real therapeutic benefits to patients, says Sandra Prater
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Diary
Diary / Health events

Branch meetings 489
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Society meetings 488-489
-Scottish Office open day (27 April)
-Pharmacogenetics in context (4 June)
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Reunions 469
-Bradford 1963
-Aston University 1968
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Resources 469
-Substances of misuse
-Online preregistration aid
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