News summary
Pharmacists to be allowed to copy or download
patient information leaflets The Medicines Control Agency wants
pharmacists to be able to photocopy or reproduce patient information leaflets
(PILs) without breaching copyright ...[more]
Pharmacy bodies criticise modernisation proposals
Three leading pharmacy bodies have criticised the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society’s modernisation proposals, saying that they fail to see how
the proposed structure for the Council will achieve the appropriate balance
between regulatory and professional roles ...[more]
Pharmacists in Scotland target low income pregnant
women who smoke Community pharmacists in the Lothian Health
Board area are to take part in “Want2Quit”, a scheme aimed at
helping pregnant women and their partners in low-income groups to stop
smoking ...[more]
Fruit and vegetables protect smokers against
COPD Eating fruit and vegetables may protect smokers against
developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to a new study
published in the European Respiratory Journal ...[more]
Challenge over Irish ban on “outsiders”
The Irish High Court is being asked to overturn a restriction on the right
of European Union citizens to run a pharmacy in the Republic of Ireland,
on the grounds that it is “unjust, discriminatory and unconstitutional”
...[more]
Health department invites applications from
PCTs for repeat dispensing
Applications have been invited from primary care trusts in
England to be among 30 pathfinder sites for pharmacy-based repeat dispensing
schemes ...[more]
New arrangements proposed for the supply of
gluten-free foods Primary care trusts in England have been
given discretion to make arrangements for the supply of gluten-free foods
other than through the traditional route of general practitioner prescribing
...[more]
Single mumps vaccine import ban The
Medicines Control Agency has told importers that they must not import
unlicensed mumps vaccines that contain the Urabe strain of mumps ...[more]
Numark lists and seeks new members
Numark is seeking new members following its successful conversion to an
unlisted public company on 5 August ...[more]
Increased risk of diabetes associated with olanzapine
but not risperidone
Olanzapine (Zyprexa) is associated with a clinically important
increased risk of diabetes, but risperidone (Risperdal) is not, results
of a new study suggest ...[more]
Children with autism may benefit from risperidone
The atypical antipsychotic drug risperidone (Risperdal) can
help to control moderate to severe behavioural problems in children who
have autism, an American study has found ...[more]
Blood pressure self-measurement overcomes “white
coat” hypertension
Home measurement of blood pressure by patients has been recommended
over that done in a general practitioner’s surgery by the authors
of a new study ...[more]
Genzyme facing OFT probe over home care service
The Office of Fair Trading has come to a provisional decision that Genzyme
has breached Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998, which prohibits conduct
amounting to abuse of a dominant market position...[more]
Point-of-care tests should be quick and cheap
The success of point-of-care tests depends on cost, the need for speed
in diagnosis and whether the test can be followed up easily, according
to data analysts Frost & Sullivan ...[more]
Scottish antipsychotics guidance
The Health Technology Board for Scotland has recommended atypical antipsychotics
as a first-line treatment for schizophrenia. The decision announced last
month follows publication of guidance on these drugs by the National Institute
for Clinical Excellence in June (PJ, 8 June, p793). The HTBS said NICE’s
guidance is as valid for Scotland, where some 4,900 more people will now
benefit from the drugs, as it is for England and Wales.
Hand written prescriptions Only 11
per cent of prescriptions are still being written by hand, the Prescription
Pricing Authority found in a recent sampling exercise. Pharmacists are
using computers to print endorsements on 62 per cent of prescriptions.
Lloyds buys in Scotland Lloydspharmacy
has acquired 13 pharmacies in the west of Scotland with the purchase of
A. G. Bannerman Ltd. Eleven of the pharmacies are in Glasgow and Paisley,
the other two are in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. Lloyds now has 1,328
branches, 136 of which are in Scotland.
|
