News summary
First national medicines management
pilot sites announced by Government The first 26 pilot schemes
to help patients get the most out of medicines under the national medicines
management programme have been announced...[more]
Hospital pharmacist vacancies falling
Vacancy rates for hospital pharmacists in England are falling, according
to the Department of Health...[more]
Tamoxifen use may increase risk of oestrogen-negative
cancers Women with breast cancer are less likely to develop
oestrogen receptor-positive tumours after receiving preventive tamoxifen
but could be at greater risk from oestrogen receptor (OR)-negative tumours,
researchers from the United States suggest...[more]
Pharmacists told to plan their response to the
loss of RPM Independent community pharmacists must plan and
act now if they are to compete with the grocery sector post retail price
maintenance...[more]
Monitoring is crucial for patients receiving
irinotecan combination The combination of bolus-therapy irinotecan
(Campto), fluorouracil and calcium folinate (calcium leucovorin) for the
treatment of colorectal cancer is associated with an excessive rate of
early deaths compared with other treatment combinations, say American
researchers...[more]
Pharmacy launches translation service Green
Light pharmacy in Euston, London, has obtained funding for a health translation
and education service for the local Bengali community...[more]
UK has second lowest number of pharmacists per
person in Europe The United Kingdom has the second lowest number
of pharmacists per person in Europe and numbers are likely to decline
further, the Office of Health Economics says...[more]
Service delivery put under the research spotlight
The Community Pharmacy Research Consortium (CPRC) has commissioned
two pieces of research from the University of Aberdeen as part of its
second research programme “Service delivery and organisation in community
pharmacy”...[more]
Community pharmacy fraud checks more widespread
than first expected Checks on community pharmacies by anonymous
staff from the counter-fraud directorate of the Department of Health have
been more substantial than first thought...[more]
Pharmacists form largest fraud group Pharmacists
form the largest group of National Health Service worker in England to
be investigated for defrauding the NHS...[more]
No association found between analgesics and renal
dysfunction in healthy men Moderate use of paracetamol, aspirin,
and other non-steroidal analgesics by healthy men does not increase their
risk of renal dysfunction, a study has shown...[more]
Late entry pharmacy teams runners-up in NHS Health
and Social Care Awards Pharmacy teams were runners-up for three
of the 25 Health and Social Care awards made on July 5 during National
Health Service week recently...[more]
All Party Pharmacy Group officers retain positions
The All Party Pharmacy Group reconvened on 12 July for its
first meeting following the general election...[more]
Use of herbal medicines could pose risk to patients
undergoing surgery Health care professionals must be aware
of the impact that herbal medicines can have on the care of patients undergoing
surgery, say American researchers...[more]
Tamoxifen use may increase risk of oestrogen-negative
cancers Women with breast cancer are less likely to develop
oestrogen receptor-positive tumours after receiving preventive tamoxifen
but could be at greater risk from oestrogen receptor (OR)-negative tumours,
researchers from the United States suggest...[more]
Non-compliance not a reason for treatment-resistant
hypertension There is no difference in compliance with drug
treatment in patients with treatment-resistant hypertension and in patients
with treatment-responsive hypertension, say Swiss researchers...[more]
NEWS IN BRIEF
Little value in H pylori testing for all
Testing patients for Helicobacter pylori to predict the development of
peptic ulcer disease is only of use in high-risk patients. Researchers
in the Netherlands found that simple history-taking can determine those
at high risk: patients who smoke, patients who suffer from pain on an
empty stomach and those with a previous history of peptic ulcer disease.
The three variables had odd ratios of 2.0 (95 per cent confidence interval
1.4 to 6.0), 2.8 (1.0 to 4.0) and 5.5 (2.6 to 11.8), respectively. In
this higher risk group, the predictive value for underlying disease was
increased from 16 per cent to 26 per cent after a positive H pylori test
(BMJ 2001;323:71).
Research goes from PJ to BMJ
Finalists in the Pharmaceutical
Care Awards shared-care section (PJ, 30 June, p882), a team based
at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Manchester, Sefton
Health Authority and the National Primary Care Research and Development
Centre, have had their research published in the BMJ this week.
Entitled “Managing demand: transfer of management of self-limiting
conditions from general practice to community pharmacists”, the paper
is based on the “Care at the chemist” scheme previously published
in The Journal (Pharm J 2001;266:425). BMJ 2001;323:146.
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