News summary
HRT trial stopped as risks
of long-term use are found to outweigh benefits A major American
trial of the long-term use of hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal
women has been stopped on the orders of its safety committee after an
interim analysis showed a small but real increased risk of breast cancer
and cardiovascular disease...[more]
Numark conversion wins first vote
Over 90 per cent of Numark's shareholders have approved its conversion
to a public company in a first vote on the proposal...[more]
Scottish remuneration rises by 3.6 per cent
Scotland's community pharmacies are to get a 3.6 per cent remuneration
increase, plus £500,000 for premises upgrades and an extra £250,000
for model schemes for pharmaceutical care...[more]
Parkinson's helpline launched by Welsh school
of pharmacy Pharmacists will be dealing with enquiries from
patients with Parkinson's disease during a six-month pilot of a medicines
information helpline...[more]
Royal Assent for NHS Reform Act The
National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 received
Royal Assent on 25 June...[more]
Care awards given by NICE chairman
Two of the six prize-winning projects in the 2001 Pharmaceutical Care
Awards are based in Scotland, indicating that pharmacists north of the
border continue to provide excellence in pharmaceutical care...[more]
NICE to consult the BNF The British
National Formulary has become an official National Institute for Clinical
Excellence consultee...[more]
CHI says pharmacists failed to stop excessive
prescribing A complaint from Hampshire police to the Commission
for Health Improvement has resulted in a finding that pharmacists failed
to challenge excessive prescribing of diamorphine, haloperidol and midazolam
at the GP-led Gosport War Memorial Hospital...[more]
Absence fears lead to longer hours for independents
Pharmacists working in independent community pharmacies are putting in
long hours and some are skipping holidays because of fears about what
might happen when they are not there and because of competition from supermarkets,
according to a new survey...[more]
HIV: new guidelines but few new drugs
New recommendations for the treatment of HIV infection were published
last week while participants at the XIV International AIDS Conference
held in Barcelona heard that there had been "pitifully few"'
new drugs in this field over the past 20 years...[more]
Boosted saquinavir better than boosted indinavir
at cutting HIV viral loads More patients treated with a boosted
saquinavir regimen had levels of HIV that were undetectable at 48 weeks
than patients treated with a boosted indinavir regimen, according to trial
results presented at the international AIDS conference...[more]
Simpler strategies still needed in HIV
A professor of medicine has called for the development of simpler, less
toxic HIV drug strategies that include protease inhibitors...[more]
Interrupting HIV treatment safe Interrupting
HIV treatment may be safe in some patients, according to a study presented
at the AIDS conference...[more]
Pharmacies would be cheaper bases for walk-in
centres, official report says Establishing walk-in centres
in pharmacies or GP surgeries would be cheaper and better than opening
special premises, a report on National Health Service walk-in centres
suggests...[more]
MCA misled Ministers on vaccine The
Medicines Control Agency supplied Government ministers and, through them,
Parliament with misleading information about vaccines made with calf serum...[more]
Hospital pharmacist vacancies rise again
Vacancy rates for hospital pharmacists in England are rising again, according
to Department of Health figures...[more]
Two well-known pharmacists die Joe
Wright, a former director of the National Pharmaceutical Association,
and Graeme Le Quesne, a past-chairman of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's
Jersey branch, both died earlier this month...[more]
Malaria campaign running in south London pharmacies
Sixty community pharmacies across Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham in south
London are taking part in a campaign warning travellers of the risk of
catching malaria while travelling abroad...[more]
DEET beats other insect repellents in new tests
Insect repellents containing high concentrations of DEET (diethyltoluamide)
offer better protection against mosquito bites than products containing
the repellent IR3535 (ethyl butylacetylaminoproprionate) or botanical
agents such as citronella, a new study has found...[more]
Fish oil supplement shows real promise in reducing
cachexia Clinical trials of a fish oil enriched nutritional
supplement are being planned following encouraging results in studies
of cancer-induced weight loss (cachexia)...[more]
Folic acid reduces cancer risk Most
adults should be taking a multivitamin containing folic acid to reduce
their risk of colon cancer, according to a United States cancer expert...[more]
Nottingham school of pharmacy shows role of
molecules at BBC roadshows The role of molecules in the daily
world is being highlighted at the BBC Tomorrow's World roadshows
by a series of short films prepared by a researcher from Nottingham school
of pharmacy...[more]
Age-related macular degeneration not helped
by daily vitamin E Daily supplementation with vitamin E does
not prevent the development or slow the progression of age-related macular
degeneration (AMD), a four-year randomised controlled trial has shown...[more]
Family planning clinics to be able to supply
mifepristone The Department of Health has confirmed that some
pilot family planning centres are to be allowed to offer mifepristone
(Mifegyne) for use in the termination of pregnancies...[more]
Internet medicines sales to be studied
Trading standards officers in Dundee have received £7,500 from
the Department of Trade and Industry in order to search the internet for
unlicensed sales of prescription only medicines to the public and to look
at how this can be prevented...[more]
Keep antibiotics for otitis media seen with
fever and vomiting Antibiotics are only likely to benefit children
with otitis media if they have fever or present with vomiting, an analysis
of data from a new trial has shown...[more]
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