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559 Repeat
dispensing retains support despite concerns Repeat dispensing
still has the support of the Department of Health and the Pharmaceutical
Services Negotiating Committee, it was confirmed this week. This is despite
concerns raised by those involved in the pathfinder sites over how widely
repeat dispensing can be used ...more
559 Prescribing
reaches community pharmacy Campbell Shimmins of Woodside Pharmacy,
Doune, Perthshire, is the first community pharmacist to write a supplementary
prescription ...more
559 Developments
for yellow card scheme announced Direct patient reporting
of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) via the yellow card scheme is to be
rolled out, it was announced on 4 May, the 40th anniversary of the scheme
...more
559 European
Commission sets out plans for electronic health services Plans
for making better use of information technology in health care have been
published by the European Commission. They bear a remarkable resemblance
to those currently being implemented in the NHS ...more
560 New
chairman elected for NPA Ashok Soni, a community pharmacist from south London, has been elected chairman of the National Pharmaceutical Association for 2004–05
...more
560 Australian
pharmacies to remain independent Australian pharmacists appear
to have made headway in their fight to keep community pharmacies out
of the hands of corporate business ...more
560 New
European medicines directives agreed Three updated European directives — on human medicines, veterinary medicines and traditional herbal medicines — have been finalised. In addition, an updated regulation on European rules for authorising medicines for use throughout the union has been published. And on 1 May, the European Medicines Evaluation Agency was renamed the European Medicines Agency
...more
560 Lloydspharmacy
recruits Polish pharmacists Lloydspharmacy is already recruiting
pharmacists from the countries which joined the European Union on 1 May
...more
560 Pharmacy
staff with disabilities sought for research into work coping strategies Researchers
at the University of Reading want to interview pharmacists with disabilities
about how they cope with their work ...more
561 Forms
of physical activity that are good for health Lack of physical
activity is as detrimental as smoking and poor diet in causing chronic
disease ...more
561 Quetiapine
shows promise for depression Quetiapine (Seroquel), an atypical
antipsychotic, is effective and well-tolerated in the treatment of bipolar
depression, according to the first large-scale clinical trial to test
the drug in this indication ...more
561 Men's
spirits sink when sildenafil does not work Expectations that
treatment with sildenafil (Viagra) will be successful can lead to severe
distress when the drug fails to work in erectile dysfunction ...more
561 African
pharmaceutical forum An African pharmaceutical forum has been
launched with support from the International Pharmaceutical Federation
and the World Health Organization ...more
561 Genetics
education for NHS staff A genetics education and development
centre is to be run by the Women's Healthcare Trust in Birmingham, Health
Secretary John Reid announced this week ...more
562 Poor
adherence contributes to many asthma deaths Poor adherence
to medication is one of the key factors contributing to asthma deaths,
according to a new report published this week ...more
562 Meta-analysis
shows vitamin D reduces falls Vitamin D supplementation may
reduce the risk of falls in older people by more than 20 per cent, according
to a new meta-analysis published last week ...more
562 Raloxifene
and Premarin are beneficial for bone density Raloxifene and
Premarin (conjugated equine oestrogen [CEO]) both have beneficial effects
on bone density and bone turnover in healthy postmenopausal women. However,
the effects of CEO are more marked, according to a new trial ...more
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562 MeReC considers epilepsy ... and supplementary prescribing ...more
563 Intensive
pharmaceutical care cuts readmission rate An intensive clinical
pharmacy service can reduce hospital readmission rates, save money and
can have a positive impact on the appropriateness of prescribed medicines,
pharmacists in Northern Ireland have shown ...more
563 Some patients
with hepatitis C can halve the duration of treatment Nearly
two thirds of people with the easier-to-treat forms of chronic hepatitis
C may be able to halve the duration of their antiviral treatment from
24 weeks to 12 weeks, according to research presented last month at the
annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver
in Berlin ...more
563 Non-nucleoside
combination increases risk of adverse events Triple antiretroviral
drug regimens that incorporate either nevirapine (Viramune) or efavirenz
(Sustiva) show similar efficacy in patients chronically infected with
HIV, according to a study published in The Lancet. However,
a combination of the agents increases the risk of adverse events ...more
564 Focus on
blockbusters creates opportunities for small companies Opportunities
for smaller pharmaceutical companies to build portfolios of niche medicines
are opening up as a result of the pursuit of blockbuster drugs by the
major multinational pharmaceutical companies ...more
564 Funding secured
for research network on drug delivery A virtual research network
that aims to promote the science of drug delivery within the UK has secured £63,000
in funding from the British research councils ...more
564 NICE announces
changes to ways of working National Institute for Clinical
Excellence technology appraisals are to be done differently ...more
564 Adverts broke
MHRA rules Two advertisements carried in a brochure distributed
to Vantage pharmacies earlier this year by AAH Pharmaceuticals Ltd breached
medicines advertising regulations ...more
R & D NEWS
565 Oxford BioMedica
uses £500,000 of Government funds for gene therapy research into
haemophilia A modified horse virus has brought £500,000
of Government money to an Oxford biopharmaceutical company specialising
in gene therapy ...more
565 Gene therapy
is safe for Alzheimer's disease Insertion of genetically modified
cells into the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease is well
tolerated and reduces cognitive decline, according to preliminary findings
reported at the American Academy of Neurology last week ...more
565 Promise for
new “vaptan” in heart failure A new vasopressin
antagonist, or “vaptan”, one of a new class of drugs, shows
promise in patients admitted to hospital with heart failure ...more
566 Response
to gefitinib determined by gene mutation Researchers have
discovered specific gene mutations that could be used to identify which
lung cancer patients will respond to treatment with gefitinib (Iressa)
...more
566 Researchers
find potential vehicle for childhood malaria vaccine Researchers
have discovered a protein with the potential to be used as a basis for
a vaccine against severe childhood malaria. They compared proteins expressed
by two types of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, one of which
causes severe childhood disease in non-immune sufferers and the other
less severe adult infection ...more
566 Rasagiline
may slow progression of Parkinson's disease Patients with
Parkinson's disease may benefit from a new drug with the potential to
modify the progression of the disease as well as relieve the symptoms,
according to results of a recent study ...more
566 Data presented
on new semi-synthetic antibiotic The lead compound of a new
class of antibiotics, called BAY 73-7388, has demonstrated potent in
vivo and in vitro activity against resistant bacteria, according to data
presented jointly by researchers for Bayer and Paratek at the European
Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Prague this
week ...more
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal