News summary
News in brief
Pharmacies to end emergency cover Three community pharmacists
in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, have withdrawn from local arrangements
for out-of-hours emergency cover in protest at this year's remuneration
imposition ...[more]
Pharmacy bodies say "wait and see"
on LPS pilots Bodies representing pharmacy contractors and
owners in England are adopting a "wait and see" policy on local
pharmaceutical services contracts ahead of guidance expected from the
Department of Health this month...[more]
Smoking cessation services to continue Smoking
cessation services in England will continue next year after funding was
announced by the Government...[more]
Welsh hospitals foresee need for many more pharmacists
by 2010 National Health Service hospitals in Wales expect to
need a 62 per cent increase in the number of pharmacists they employ by
2010...[more]
Society to collaborate over guidelines
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is to work with the National Institute
for Clinical Excellence at three of its six national collaborating centres...[more]
More funding needed to implement NICE decisions,
say MPs Members of Parliament believe that health authorities
should be given additional funding in order to implement recommendations
made by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, according to a
survey carried out for the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry...[more]
Health improvement body finds NHS cancer services
too variable Improvements in the care of cancer patients have
been patchy, a service review by the Commission for Health Improvement
and the Audit Commission has found...[more]
Full data from heart failure trial published
Results of the valsartan heart failure trial (Val-HeFT) evaluating
the long-term effects of adding valsartan to standard heart failure therapy
have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine...[more]
ETP must be better than paper forms Simply
reproducing the paper prescription system with an electronic version is
not enough, according to Mr Chris Town, chief executive of North Peterborough
Primary Care Trust...[more]
Private-Rx sold to medM Ltd Private-Rx,
an internet discussion forum for pharmacists, has been sold by its founder
Simon Whittaker to medM Ltd, an education provider owned by non-pharmacist
Dr Darrin Baines, for an undisclosed sum...[more]
TransScript sends first prescriptions but loses
UniChem The first electronic transmission of prescriptions
(ETP) has occurred in the pilot trial run by the TransScript consortium...[more]
Drinking, hypertension and epilepsy are major
health challenges, says CMO The annual report of the Chief
Medical Officer for England, published this week, highlights a number
of health issues that pharmacists' involvement could help to improve...[more]
Pharmacists are helpful, say smokers who want
to quit Pharmacists can play a key role in helping people to
stop smoking, according to the results of a recent telephone survey...[more]
Team that doubles quitting rate wins smoking
cessation award A practice team from Carnoustie Medical Group,
Tayside, that includes a pharmacist, has won the Doctor magazine smoking
cessation award...[more]
Naltrexone use for alcohol dependence not supported
New data do not support the use of naltrexone, as an adjunct
to psychosocial treatment, for the treatment of men with chronic, severe
alcohol dependence, American researchers say...[more]
Clozapine should be prescribed earlier Clozapine,
the only effective drug in treatment refractory schizophrenia, needs to
be prescribed much earlier than it is at present, according to David Taylor,
chief pharmacist, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust...[more]
Patients' forum representatives will only inspect
public areas of pharmacies Inspections by patients' forums
of premises used for the provision of health services will not include
private parts of pharmacy premises, such as those used for residential
purposes, or stock rooms and staff areas...[more]
OFT pharmacy inquiry has begun The
Office of Fair Trading inquiry into controls over the pharmacy market
has started...[more]
Society's ethics head to advise the NHS
Helen Darracott, head of professional ethics at the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society has been appointed to the newly formed Patient Information Advisory
Group which is to make sure that patients' rights are upheld in the use
of medical information...[more]
More carrot and stick needed for Welsh prescription
exemption checking Better incentives and tougher sanctions
are needed for pharmacists undertaking point of dispensing exemption checks
in Wales in order to stem losses of up to £15m, according to a report
by the audit committee of the National Assembly of Wales...[more]
Moss buys nearly 60 Taylor pharmacies
Moss Pharmacy has acquired 59 pharmacies in south west England, he Midlands
and Essex from six companies owned by the Taylor family, for £68m...[more]
GSK reprimanded over adverts GlaxoSmithKline
has been reprimanded by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical
Industry's board of management for failing to make adequate changes to
its advertising for Avandia (rosiglitazone) despite a previously upheld
complaint...[more]
Sunderland students benefit from bequest
Students at Sunderland University's school of pharmacy are benefiting
from a legacy left to the university by the wife of an alumnus of the
school...[more]
Pharmacist is Isle of Man Chief Minister
Richard Corkhill, MRPharmS, has been appointed Chief Minister of the Isle
of Man...[more]
Folate use in pregnancy lowers risk of leukaemia
Folic acid supplementation in pregnancy reduces the risk of
the child developing common acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), a new
study suggests...[more]
Promising data for aromatase inhibitors
Data from trials of two new aromatase inhibitors, anastrozole (Arimidex)
and letrozole (Femara) indicate that they are both more effective than
tamoxifen...[more]
Stroke severity reduced by aspirin
Aspirin may reduce stroke severity, say researchers...[more]
Paclitaxel plus radiation may increase incidence
of pneumonitis The incidence of radiation pneumonitis may
be increased when breast cancer patients are treated with a combination
of chemotherapy including paclitaxel (Taxol) in addition to radiation
therapy, say researchers...[more]
Europe plans for bioterrorism risk
A European Union-wide strategy to guarantee the production, supply and
availability of medicines warding off the effects of a biological terrorist
attack has been debated at a meeting between the European Commission and
the pharmaceutical industry...[more]
Fluconazole therapy prevents invasive fungal
infection in preterm infants Prophylactic administration of
fluconazole is effective in preventing invasive fungal infection and fungal
colonisation in preterm infants, a new study shows...[more]
Prescription charge review sought
The system of prescription charges and exemptions should be comprehensively
reviewed, the December issue of Health Which? says...[more]
Little evidence for snoring 'cures'
Products sold as 'cures' for snoring have been found to be lacking in
a report by Health Which?...[more]
Make managers visit pharmacies Pharmacists
have been urged to ask senior health managers to watch pharmacists at
work after the chief executive of East Devon Primary Care Trust (Iain
Tulley) spent a morning in a community pharmacy in Exmouth last week...[more]
NEWS IN BRIEF
Genetic test for dietary advice The
Body Shop is to offer genetic testing kits in eleven branches in England
and Scotland. Results from the test will be used to offer individual dietary
advice. The test involves taking a buccal swob which is sent to the manufacturer
of the kits, Sciona Limited. Customers are sent a 30-page report listing
test results. The test kit costs £120.
Cancer charities merge The Cancer
Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund are to merge to
become Cancer Research UK, the two charities announced this week. The
merger will take effect in early February 2002 and will make Cancer Research
UK the biggest independent cancer research organisation in the world with
a research budget of £130m.
AAH updates LINKScripts 2 TAAH Pharmaceuticals
has updated its LINKScripts 2 dispensary management system to run under
the Windows 2000 operating system. The specification of computer hardware
supplied to LINKScripts 2 customers has also been upgraded.
Scottish SI consolidation Sixteen
Statutory Instruments and parts of two further SIs that set out National
Health Service prescription charges have been revoked and consolidated
into a single new SI, the National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and
Appliances) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (SSI 2001 No 430, ISBN 0 11059911
X)).
European Medicines Group formed Eighteen
British subsidiaries of European companies have formed the European Medicines
Group to represent their interests to the Government.
Imatinib also of benefit in early CML
Use of imatinib mesylate (Glivec) in newly diagnosed patients with chronic
myeloid leukaemia (CML) can result in high cytogenic response rates, say
researchers. Data presented at the annual meeting of the American Society
of Haematology in Orlando this month showed that of 47 patients with early
chronic phase CML, 36 achieved complete or major cytogenic responses after
three months of treatment with imatinib.
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