Editorial
UK bill to ban all new psychoactive substances Subscription
New psychoactive substances are emerging more quickly than they can be outlawed, but a new UK bill is proposing a blanket solution.
Feature
Tackling prescription drug abuse Subscription
There are signs that strategies to address prescription drug abuse are starting to work but will an increase in illegal drug use be the payoff?
Debate over naming of biosimilars intensifies ahead of WHO meetingSubscription
Drug regulators have noticed a proliferating problem. Around the world various regional regulators are applying different naming conventions for biosimilars.
Comment
The prescription opioid addiction and abuse epidemic: how it happened and what we can do about it
Opioid painkillers are supposed to provide pain relief, but there is now a plethora of injuries and deaths because they have been heavily marketed and inappropriately prescribed.
Learning article
Obesity: current and emerging drug treatmentsSubscription
The prevalence of obesity has doubled worldwide since 1980, but a range of new treatments are being introduced to help patients lose weight.
Careers
How a pharmacy student built a global companySubscription
Charles Ebubedike conceived the idea for a pharmaceutical company together with classmates on his pharmacy degree course. He tells Stephen Robinson how they developed the company into an international business.
News
Modified herpes virus therapy shows promise in melanomaSubscription
A virus-derived oncolytic immunotherapy has shown activity against melanoma in a phase III clinical trial, researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Painkiller use is more closely linked to homicide than antipsychotics or antidepressantsSubscription
There is a closer association between use of painkillers and homicide than there is between the use of antipsychotics or antidepressants and killing someone, research shows.
News in Brief
Liver transplant for paracetamol overdose is more common in Ireland and the UK than several other European countriesSubscription
Pfizer apologises for Lyrica but presses ahead with patent protection strategySubscription
Welsh pharmacies offer Parkinson’s MURs in awareness campaignSubscription
GPs in Australia urge pharmacists not to sell homeopathic productsSubscription
GPs continue to prescribe outdated antibiotics for gonorrhoeaSubscription
UK government sets limits on what NHS can pay agency staffSubscription
NICE to offer guidance on management of menopausal symptomsSubscription
WHO urges Yemen’s warring factions to permit supply of life-saving medicinesSubscription
Research briefing
Increase of ragweed pollen predicted across EuropeSubscription
Study investigates antihypertensives in patients with diabetes and kidney diseaseSubscription
Nivolumab plus ipilimumab increases progression-free survival for melanoma patientsSubscription
Decline in estradiol levels precipitates depression in susceptible womenSubscription
Review collates evidence on increased risk of death for anticholinergicsSubscription
