The 24th edition of 'Medicines, ethics and practice: A guide for pharmacists' has been published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. The main change from the previosu edition is in Part 2 of the guide, which now includes the alterations to the Code of Ethics adopted by the Society's annual general meeting in May.
Part 1, which sets out general legal requirements, includes new information on the sale or supply of ibuprofen by chiropodists, new advice for pharmacists on the destruction of Controlled Drugs returned by patients, and new information relating to record-keeping requirements for the sale and supply of veterinary products for food-producing animals.
Part 3, which covers practice advice, contains new guidance relating to the storage of oxygen cylinders.
'Medicines, ethics and practice' is published by the Society as a day-to-day reference source for practising pharmacists. Copies of the new edition were to be posted at the end of this week to all pharmacists with registered addresses in Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, apart from those paying the reduced retention fee for members aged 60 years or over who are not gainfully employed. Copies were also to be sent to preregistration trainees and, in bulk, to all schools of pharmacy in the United Kingdom.
Additional copies of the guide are available for purchase from the Publications Department, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, 1 Lambeth High Street, London SE1 7JN. Copies cost £7.95 each (£9.95 for overseas addresses), including postage and packing.
The Professional Standards Directorate reminds pharmacists that it is a requirement of the Society's Code of Ethics that the current edition of the guide should be available for consultation in all dispensaries.
As in the past, the guide's information on the legal classifications of medicines will be updated by cumulative lists of amendment published in The Journal in the first issue of each month. The first amendments to the new edition are the entries printed in bold in last week's cumulative list of amendments to the 23rd edition (PJ, July 1, p12).