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3 Judge
makes decision on costs in SOS court case The final decision
on how costs are to be awarded against the Save Our Society claimants
in the Charter court case was announced this week ...more
3 SOS
group withdraws application for appeal The Save Our Society
group has announced that it is to drop further legal action over the
proposed new Charter ...more
3 Prescription
costs up 10pc The total net ingredient cost of prescriptions
dispensed by community pharmacies, dispensing doctors and appliance contractors
in England in 2003 rose by 9.7 per cent in 2003. This is a real terms
increase of 6.5 per cent over 2002 ...more
3 NHS
employers organisation to be set up Responsibility for NHS workforce issues, including conducting national negotiations on the pay and conditions of staff, will pass to a newly-created “NHS Employers’ Organisation” on 1 October
...more
4 Enhanced
pharmacy services under way in north west Community pharmacists in the North West of England are now offering services to patients that will have enhanced service status under the new pharmacy contract in an agreement with their primary care trust worth nearly £200,000
...more
4 Public
health role for London pharmacist A pharmacist in south London
is to play a role in a community initiative launched this week to improve
public health ...more
4 More
LIFT projects Primary care trusts have been invited to bid for Local Improvement Finance Trust funding for one-stop health centres, now called “super surgeries” by the Department of Health
...more
4 June
Council meeting The transcript of the June meeting of the
Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Council is now available on the Society's
website ...more
4 Assistants'
training The College of Pharmacy Practice has been tasked
with the accreditation of training programmes for dispensing and pharmacy
assistants by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society ...more
4 Voltarol
Emulgel GSL application Novartis Consumer Health has applied
to have Voltarol Pain-Eze Emulgel (diclofenac diethylammonium 1.16 per
cent) classified as a general sale list medicine. The product is the
same as Voltarol Emulgel, which is currently a pharmacy medicine and
which will remain available ...more
4 Vantage
Health Watch Distance learning packs for a blood pressure
monitoring service offered through AAH Pharmaceuticals' Vantage Health
Watch programme have been accredited by the College of Pharmacy Practice
...more
5 NHS
improvement plan outlines patient choice By 2008 patients
in England will have the right to choose from any health care provider
that meets the Healthcare Commission's standards, promises new plans
from the Department of Health ...more
5 Pharmacists
key providers of information for alternative medicines New
guidelines from the World Health Organization acknowledge pharmacists
as one of the key information providers for alternative medicines. The
guidelines have been produced to help health services develop specific
and reliable information for consumer use of these therapies ...more
5 Telmisartan
useful for early morning blood pressure surges Telmisartan
(Micardis), an angiotensin-II receptor antagonist, can prevent dangerous
early morning blood pressure surges, according to a study presented at
a recent meeting of the European Society of Hypertension ...more
5 MHRA
asks for evidence for co-proxamol risks or benefits The
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has issued a request
for further evidence from clinical trials or observational data regarding
the risks and benefits of co-proxamol, as part of an ongoing review by
the Committee on Safety of Medicines ...more
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6 New collaboration
gives a boost to clinical trials A new body — the UK
Clinical Research Collaboration — has been set up to expand the
range of clinical trials conducted within the NHS and to speed up the
development of new medicines ...more
6 Child-resistant
cardboard medicine boxes launched Recloseable cardboard medicine
cartons that meet the international standard for child-resistant packaging
were announced by the Finnish company StoraEnso last week ...more
6 Adverse drug
reactions huge burden for health service Adverse drug reactions
account for 1 in 16 hospital admissions and cost the NHS £466m
a year, according to new research. However, the authors suggest that
greater input from pharmacists will help reduce them ...more
6 Reassurance
issued over counterfeiting Reassurance that legitimately obtained
medicines in the UK are unlikely to be counterfeit has been issued by
the Department of Health ...more
7 Cheap interventions
improve antibiotic prescribing A series of “relatively
cheap but multifaceted” interventions have improved antibiotic
prescribing in a Dutch hospital ...more
7 Europe funds
antiviral resistance research Work towards overcoming drug
resistance of viral diseases has started with funding of €9m (£6m)
from the European Union ...more
7 Women unsure
which pill they are taking Almost half of women taking the
oral contraceptive pill are not sure which type of pill they are taking.
This is a finding from a recent MORI social research institute survey
commissioned by Brook Advisory Centres ...more
7 Hep C action
plan A hepatitis C action plan for England, including a professional
awareness campaign, has been launched by the Department of Health ...more
7 European genetics
research A collaborative EU investigation, co-ordinated by
researchers from the University of Manchester, will examine the genetic
factors linked to depression with the aim of developing more effective
treatments ...more
7 Can dogs anticipate
seizures? Results from a survey of 122 families with a child
with epilepsy suggest that some pet dogs can anticipate seizures ...more
8 Donepezil trial
data spark controversy and debate A new trial suggesting donepezil
(Aricept) is not cost effective in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease
has sparked controversy among clinicians. The trial, AD2000, was organised
and funded by the NHS Executive R&D and four health authorities in
the UK ...more
8 Use safest
or cheapest drug first for PONV Use the safest or least expensive
antiemetic intervention first for postoperative nausea and vomiting,
says an international panel of anaesthetists reporting the findings of
a multicentre trial ...more
8 Management
of depression could be better A number of patients classified
as being “adequately” treated with selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors in primary care do not respond to the therapy, say researchers
...more
9 Pharmacists
advised to cool dispensaries Last year's August heatwave has
prompted a GP to call on pharmacists to store medicines in a temperature-controlled
environment ...more
9 Passive smoking
effects Effects of passive smoking may have been underestimated
in the past, say researchers ...more
9 Oily fish advice Girls
and women of child-bearing age can safely eat two portions of oily fish
per week, says the Food Standards Agency in new advice issued last week
...more
9 Rating medication
incidents A tool to assist staff assign a potential severity
rating to medication incident reports has been developed by the Northern
Ireland medicines governance project team ...more
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal