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781 Chloramphenicol
eye drops not needed for children Most children who present
with infective conjunctivitis in primary care do not need treatment with
an antibiotic, according to research published online this week ...more
781 Few
benefits from independent prescribing by pharmacists, says BMA There
is no evidence to support the idea that pharmacists prescribing independently
will improve patient care, the British Medical Association has said in
its response to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s
consultation on independent prescribing by pharmacists ...more
781 Society
and NHS fraud service formalise co-operation Bogus pharmacists, people stealing pharmacists’ identities and those committing pharmaceutical fraud are the targets of a new partnership between the NHS Counter Fraud Service (NHS CFS) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
...more
781 NHS
faces three challenges The NHS faces three big challenges:
putting patients first, reforming its organisation and engaging all its
staff, Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Health, said at the NHS
Confederation conference in Birmingham last week ...more
782 Consultation
opens on smoking ban in enclosed places Proposals on how legislation
banning smoking in enclosed places in England and Wales would work in
practice were unveiled by public health minister, Caroline Flint, this
week. Key stakeholders are being consulted on the details of a smoking
ban, ahead of a Bill being introduced in the autumn ...more
782 White
paper calls for more devolved powers Proposals to build on
the devolution settlement and give more powers to the Welsh Assembly
have been put forward in a White Paper published this week ...more
782 Responses
to prescription charge Bill published The current system of NHS prescription charging is illogical and unfair. However, consideration needs to be given to the consequences of abolishing charges. So said the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in its response to the Scottish Parliament’s consultation on a Bill to abolish prescription charges. The Society added that, so far, it has not seen any evidence of such consideration
...more
782 MRSA
infection rates fall Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus
aureus infection rates have decreased, according to official surveillance
figures released this week by the Department of Health ...more
782 Patient
surveys not due yet Pharmacy contractors should wait for further
announcements before completing their patient satisfaction surveys, the
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee says ...more
783 Practice
managers hear of opportunities for pharmacy Now is a time
of fantastic opportunity for community pharmacy, GP practice managers
were told this week ...more
783 PSNC
produced template for fitness to practise notification The
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has produced a template
for pharmacists to use to notify their primary care trust of matters
relating to their fitness to practise ...more
783 New
sexual health committee Members of Scotland’s new Sexual Health Advisory Committee were announced last week and include Angela Timoney, chairman of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Scottish Executive
...more
783 Minister
with responsibility for pharmacy addresses new APPG Health
minister Jane Kennedy, who has specific responsibility for pharmacy,
addressed the inaugural meeting in this parliamentary session and the
annual general meeting of the All Party Pharmacy Group in London earlier
this week ...more
783 Progress
outlined for NHS IT NHS Connecting for Health has published its annual report outlining progress with the national programme for IT during 2004–05
...more
783 AZ to appeal
against fine AstraZeneca is to appeal to the European Court of Justice against a €60m fine imposed by the European Commission
...more
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784 Little antibiotic
benefit in LRTIs Antibiotics offer little benefit over no
treatment in relieving the symptoms of acute lower respiratory tract
infections, according to researchers ...more
784 Dietary calcium
and vitamin D may stop PMS High intake of dietary calcium
and vitamin D may reduce the risk of developing premenstrual syndrome,
according to researchers in the US ...more
784 Prednisolone “may
prevent recurrent miscarriages” Prednisolone could
help to prevent recurrent miscarriages, results presented at the European
Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Copenhagen
this week suggest ...more
785 Multidisciplinary
teams more effective in heart failure Multidisciplinary interventions
in heart failure — defined as those in which patient management
is the responsibility of a team including a doctor and at least one of
the following health care professionals: pharmacist, specialist nurse,
dietician or social worker — are effective in reducing admissions
to hospital and all cause mortality, according to researchers ...more
785 Statin treatment
is often sub-optimal Despite recommendations that those with
coronary heart disease or a high risk of developing it should aim for
cholesterol levels of less than 5mmol/L, a substantial number of patients
fail to achieve these levels. This is the key theme of a report published
by HEART UK this week, showing that up to 50 per cent of patients fail
to meet these levels, despite treatment with a statin ...more
785 Fish oil
may increase risk of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with implantable
defibrillators, say researchers Fish oil supplementation
does not reduce the risk of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with
implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) and may increase risk in
some patients, new data suggest ...more
785 Actrapid
cartridges to be discontinued after December Pharmacists have
been advised to check that patients with diabetes who use Actrapid Penfill
cartridges are aware that they will have to change to an alternative
insulin presentation when the 3ml cartridges are discontinued at the
end of this year ...more
786 Indication
labels nominated for innovations award An indication labelling
system for repeat prescriptions is among the 35 innovations shortlisted
for the 2005 Medical Futures Innovations Awards, it was announced last
week ...more
786 New Parkinson’s
treatment A new drug for the treatment of Parkinson’s
disease will be available in the next few weeks. Rasagiline (Azilect)
is a selective, irreversible monoamine-oxidase type B inhibitor licensed
for the treatment of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. It can be
used either as monotherapy or as adjunct therapy with levodopa ...more
786 Cannabis
spray available on prescription in Canada Sativex, the oral
spray containing a combination of two cannabis extracts, is now available
on prescription in Canada for the relief of neuropathic pain in adults
with multiple sclerosis ...more
786 HRT containing
drospirenone launched Hormone replacement therapy with drospirenone
is now available from Schering Health Care ...more
786 NHS appoints
innovation lead Bernard Crump has been appointed chief executive
designate of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, it was
announced last week ...more
786 Alclometasone
POM-to-P reclassification submitted Schering-Plough has applied
to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to have alclometasone
dipropionate cream reclassified from a prescription-only medicine to
a pharmacy medicine. The proposed name for the P medicine is Diprolieve
cream ...more
786 Cancer referral
guidelines Guidelines to reduce the variation in referral
times from primary care to specialist investigation for people with suspected
cancer were published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical
Excellence this week ...more
786 Consultation
on methylated spirits restrictions launched A consultation
on removing restrictions around the sale of methylated spirits has been
launched by the Scottish Executive ...more
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal