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43 Concerns
raised with Privy Council over new Charter Eleven past-presidents
and two former heads of the law department of the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society have written to the Privy Council to express grave concerns about
the Council's petition for a new Royal Charter ...more
43 Health
department says wait before putting DIY NHS branding on community pharmacies Community
pharmacists in England are being told by the Department of Health not
to rush into spending money on NHS branding for their pharmacies ...more
44 Vitamin
D supplements may protect against MS Women who take vitamin
D supplements may have a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis
than women who do not take supplements, according to recent research
...more
44 Opinion
divided at Boots over statin switch A survey of Boots pharmacists
has revealed mixed opinions about the potential reclassification of simvastatin
as a pharmacy medicine ...more
44 Antiviral
drug reduces herpes transmission A person infected with herpes
simplex type 2 (HSV-2) can reduce the risk of genital herpes transmission
to their partner by taking a single daily dose of valaciclovir (Valtrex),
results from a new study show ...more
44 Epilepsy
drug for MS The antiepileptic drug levetiracetam (Keppra)
may prove to be an effective treatment for controlling the symptoms of
spasticity in patients with multiple sclerosis, say American researchers
...more
44 Low
tar not safer The risk of dying from lung cancer is the same
for smokers of very low tar cigarettes as it is for those smoking low
and medium tar brands, a US study of almost one million people shows
...more
44 Tobacco
control plan in Scotland An extra £4m is to be invested into smoking cessation plans launched this week in Scotland by deputy health minister Tom McCabe
...more
45 Trastuzumab
fails to impress in lung cancer trial Trastuzumab (Herceptin)
has failed to improve outcomes for patients with non-small-cell lung
cancer, a study reveals ...more
45 DTB gives
cautious welcome to second-line use of two newer antifungal agents ...
but criticises transdermal contraceptive patch website ...more
45 Scotland
rejects new drugs for cancer and Alzheimer's Use of pegylated
liposomal doxorubicin (Caelyx) for metastatic breast cancer is not recommended
for use within NHS Scotland, says the Scottish Medicines Consortium in
guidance issued this week ...more
46 Guidance
for brand name prescriptions updated Guidance on dispensing
and endorsing prescriptions which bear both a brand and generic name
for a product has been updated ...more
46 London
pharmacists demand co-ordinated action after knife attacks on pharmacy
staff Pharmacists in north-east London are demanding that
action is taken to co-ordinate an appropriate response following knife
attacks on pharmacy staff ...more
46 Boots
to shed up to 1,000 jobs at Nottingham HQ The Boots Company
is expected to announce that it is shedding up to 1,000 of the 3,000
jobs at its head office in Nottingham ...more
46 Errors
on NPA malaria chart The National Pharmaceutical Association's
blue information chart on malaria prophylaxis is being reprinted owing
to an error on the original version ...more
46 NPA
payroll service The National Pharmaceutical Association is
offering its members a fully managed payroll service for their staff,
in conjunction with Ceridian Centrefile ...more
46 PSNC
funding guide The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee
has updated its guide to sources of funding for community pharmacy ...more
46 Care
records contracts Local contracts to run the NHS Care Records
Service for the North West & West Midlands and Eastern regions
of England have gone to CSC and Accenture, respectively ...more
46 Pfizer joins
CoMedis Pfizer Pharmaceuticals has joined the CoMedis online
transfer order and information service ...more |
47 European reforms
will speed up access to new drugs Agreement on reformed European
pharmaceutical legislation was reached in the European Parliament on
17 December 2003 ...more
47 GSK's $5bn
tax bill GlaxoSmithKline has been served with a claim for
$2.7bn (£1.5bn) in taxes by the US for the years 1989–96.
Further claims could push the bill to over $5bn ...more
47 European Court
quashes Bayer's €3m PI fine The European Commission
has lost its appeal against the quashing of its decision to fine Bayer €3m
for restricting supplies of Adalat in Spain to try to prevent parallel
importing to the UK. The European Court dismissed the appeal in a case
that has been running since 1996 ...more
48 UniChem says
it will maintain twice-daily pharmacy deliveries UniChem sees
no need to drop its commitment to twice-daily deliveries to its community
pharmacy customers unless major changes in the market require it to do
so ...more
48 Debate over
deodorant use and breast cancer reignited Esters of p-hydroxybenzoic
acid (parabens), which are used as preservatives in underarm deodorants
and antiperspirants, can be detected in samples of tissue from human
breast tumours, say researchers ...more
48 More bad news
for ephedra People who use dietary supplements containing
ephedra and caffeine could be putting themselves at risk of developing
heart problems, research suggests ...more
48 Medicine adverts
appeals process clarified Rules covering the way in which
pharmaceutical companies can appeal against complaints about their promotional
activities have been clarified by the Prescription Medicines Code of
Practice Authority ...more
R & D
49 Further evidence
for efalizumab in plaque psoriasis Efalizumab, a humanised
monoclonal antibody recently approved in the US for treatment of patients
with chronic moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, has shown further evidence
of efficacy ...more
49 Snail venom
leads to effective analgesic Ziconotide, a synthetic version
of a peptide found in the venom of Conus magus, a marine snail,
is an effective analgesic in patients with severe chronic pain, data
from two new studies indicate ...more
49 Vaccine on
way for all strains of meningitis Researchers have developed
an inactive form of the meningococcus bacterium that triggers an immune
response against all strains of meningitis in mice ...more
49 Garlic product
halts tumour Producing allicin (diallyl thiosulfinate), an
active component of freshly crushed garlic, in situ can halt tumour growth,
researchers from Israel have shown ...more
49 Six-pronged
malaria vaccine A vaccine against malaria that contains six
different parasite proteins has shown efficacy in a study conducted by
researchers from the University of Oxford ...more
49 Target for
jaundice treatment Researchers have shown that a component
of a chinese herbal tea remedy for jaundice activates a hepatic receptor
which increases clearance of bilirubin ...more |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal