News summary
Research & Development | Branch
meetings Future
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321 Prescription
volume is set to increase by an extra 14 per cent, says PPA head The
chief executive of the Prescription Pricing Authority, Nick Scholte,
has warned that by the time repeat dispensing is established across the
country, prescription volume is likely to have increased by 14 per cent
on top of the current 6 per cent a year growth
rate...[more]
321 Medicines number plate proposal comes to fruition New guidance
on medicines labelling and packaging has been published by the Medicines Control Agency...[more]
OFT report
322 OFT
figures under fire in responses to ministers The figures
for cost savings to consumers and to the National Health Service that
might be achieved through deregulating pharmacy contracts have been
questioned in a number of the responses to the Office
of Fair Trading report submitted last week...[more]
322 Welsh Assembly seeking to block OFT report The National
Assembly for Wales is searching for ways to block the controversial OFT report on control of
entry and pharmacies after Health Minister Jane Hutt expressed her strong concerns over the issue...[more]
323 Former
OFT director calls deregulation "a jump in the dark" Lord
Borrie, a former Director General of Fair Trading, has called the Office
of Fair Trading recommendation that control of entry be removed from
community pharmacies "a jump in the dark" that
risks reducing easy access to pharmacies...[more]
323 MPs still signing pharmacy EDMs A fourth early day motion
(EDM 815) in the House of Commons, supporting community pharmacies and expressing concern about
changes which might affect the excellent services they provide, has attracted 22 signatures from
Members of Parliament...[more]
OTHER NEWS
323 Minister
gives £9.1m for medicines management David Lammy, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, speaking at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee annual dinner in London earlier this week, announced a further £9.1m would be made available for next year to support medicines management, local pharmaceutical services and repeat dispensing projects...[more]
324 Taking
vitamin D three times a year reduces fracture risk in elderly Taking
a large dose of vitamin D three times a year may prevent fractures in
elderly people, a new UK study suggests. Supplementation with the vitamin
reduced fractures in both men and women...[more]
324 Aspirin cuts risk of three cancers Regular, long-term use
of aspirin appears to cut the risk of developing cancers of the mouth, throat and oesophagus
by two-thirds, Italian researchers report...[more]
324 Daily vitamin dose reduces infection A daily dose of a multivitamin
and mineral supplement appears to reduce the incidence of infections among adults, results of
a new study show. The finding was most pronounced for adults with type 2 diabetes, a group at
greater risk for micronutrient deficiency than the general population...[more]
324 Initiative to sharpen antibiotic prescribing A worldwide
initiative to optimise antibiotic prescribing for hospital acquired infections was launched in
Barcelona last week...[more]
325 Safety
alert prompts makers to offer range of potassium chloride dilutions Manufacturers
of potassium chloride solution have pledged to provide whatever dilutions
the National Health Service requests, following the patient safety alert
that came into effect at the end of October
2002...[more]
325 Health Department to revise LPS application papers The Department
of Health is revising its local pharmaceutical services (LPS) guidance notes and proposal forms
for the next wave of pilots, which have to be submitted by 1 September. The revised documents,
expected in mid-March, take into account deficiencies that became apparent in the first and second
wave of bids...[more]
326 Milrinone
shows promise for heart surgery children A clinical
trial of the heart failure drug milrinone (Primacor) has shown that it
is a safe and effective prophylactic treatment for children who need
congenital heart surgery...[more]
326 NPA will not budge on pharmacy technician registration by Society The
National Pharmaceutical Association is standing firm in its opposition to the registration of
pharmacy technicians by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society...[more]
326 DoH heart disease report published Statin prescriptions have risen by 30 per cent a year since the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease was published, adding £230m to the drugs bill, according to a new report from the Department of Health...[more]
326 MeReC update on PMS Most treatments for premenstrual syndrome (PMS) are not supported by good quality evidence, the MeReC Bulletin says...[more]
326 WHO treaty on tobacco The World Health Organization has
drawn up a public health treaty on tobacco control...[more]
326 Boost for Scottish pharmacies Community pharmacies in Scotland
are to be promoted by NHS Scotland as walk-in centres where people can receive health advice
and services...[more]
327 Asthma
review can be done over the telephone — but is it patient-focused? Telephone
consultations could be an efficient way of reviewing patients with symptomatic
asthma, say the authors of a new trial. But a consultant respiratory
pharmacist has questioned how patient-focused
such an intervention is...[more]
327 CoMedis launches OTC order and information site An online
transfer order and information service aimed primarily at independent community pharmacists was
launched last week...[more]
327 Smokers more at ease talking to pharmacists about quitting Almost
90 per cent of smokers would feel comfortable talking to a pharmacist about stopping smoking,
findings from a new survey indicate...[more]
Research and Development
328 Limited
success for AIDS vaccine but there is hope for some ethnic groups Vaxgen
has reported a low overall success rate for its vaccine, Aidsvax, in
a study designed to test how well the vaccine prevents HIV infection.
Black and Asian subgroups, however, showed a better response than the
study population as a whole...[more]
328 Peptide shows promise as coeliac disease treatment Researchers
have identified a peptide that might be considered as a treatment for refractory coeliac disease...[more]
328 Prion research may yield new treatment for variant CJD The
idea of using antibodies against prions, the proteins that underlie variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease (vCJD), has received a boost from a new study from Imperial College London...[more]
328 Lead for diabetes treatments Researchers from the pharmaceutical
company Takeda Chemical Industries, in Japan, report a potential lead for new diabetes treatments...[more] |
