Editorial
Fattening up the NHS drugs billSubscription
More people diagnosed with diabetes, increased number of patients requiring drug treatment and rising costs of newer antidiabetic medicines all add to a hefty drugs bill for the NHS.
Time to limit the damage caused by inaccurate stories about pharmacists accessing medical recordsSubscription
Scaremongering stories from newspapers could damage the trust between pharmacy and the public.
Comment
Questionable marketing tactics are a major problem with pharmaSubscription
Inappropriate marketing strategies used by the pharmaceutical industry to boost drug sales must stop.
Careers
How apps are being used in community pharmacySubscription
Apps are being used widely, with over 100 billion downloaded worldwide in 2014. Some pharmacies are embracing the technology to help provide more services for their patients.
News
Metformin plays a role in lowering blood cholesterolSubscription
Metformin, one of the most widely used medications for type 2 diabetes, has a positive effect on LDL cholesterol as well as blood glucose, according to research published in Diabetes Care.
Scientists develop hydrogel to directly target disease sites in inflammatory bowel diseaseSubscription
Researchers have developed a hydrogel that selectively delivers drugs to inflamed tissue, which could pave the way for improved treatment options for patients with inflammatory bowel disease, according to a study published in Science Translational Medicine.
Pfizer to reimburse GPs for extra workload caused by LyricaSubscription
Corticosteroids may reduce mortality in community-acquired pneumoniaSubscription
NHS England and pharmacy organisations defend access to patient dataSubscription
Barriers to reclassifying drugs identified by researchersSubscription
UK competition body accuses drug firms of excessive pricing of phenytoin capsulesSubscription
National common ailment scheme for Wales could save the NHS £43mSubscription
Preclinical randomised controlled trials could tackle high attrition rates in drug developmentSubscription
MHRA reviews liquid ranitidine packaging after audit of dispensing incidentsSubscription
Inflammation increases risk of hearing loss with antibiotic treatmentSubscription
Palliative chemotherapy may harm patient’s quality of lifeSubscription
News in Brief
RPS raises membership fees for first time since 2010 demergerSubscription
Defence for hospital pharmacists who make an inadvertent dispensing error comes closerSubscription
FDA issues new PML warning for fingolimodSubscription
Oversight body criticises the effectiveness of health regulation Subscription
Near miss error tools for pharmacists launchedSubscription
Printed levetiracetam pill approved for use by the FDASubscription
Public do not understand concept of antibiotic resistanceSubscription
Appoint pharmacy champions to lead introduction of biosimilars, says NICESubscription
Awareness of risks can change anti-vaccination beliefsSubscription
Research briefing
Under treatment of venous thromboembolism persists in cardiac unitSubscription
Opioid drugs produced from engineered strain of yeastSubscription
Benefits of insulin in Alzheimer’s disease analysed in mouse studySubscription
New Ebola vaccine may have 100% efficacySubscription
Glaucoma treatment may counter the virulence of tuberculosis Subscription