Features

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‘A global outlier’: how drug firms are fighting back against UK tax increases

With the UK tax on net sales of branded medicines quadrupling over the past three years, medicine manufacturers warn it will affect access to new drugs and are threatening to withdraw — but are these empty threats?…

Published: 13 April 2023

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Should community pharmacies be offering injectable weight loss drugs?

As community pharmacies prepare to start providing the new weight loss drug Wegovy, we take a closer look at whether they are the right setting for people with obesity to access this medicine.…

Published: 6 April 2023

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Spotlight: Ethnicity and the pharmacy degree

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Kv8FtYRAWXQ7GeK1k0zHP In this second Spotlight episode of The PJ Pod, we talk through an investigation that has shown the awarding gap between white pharmacy graduates and their ethnic minority counterparts in the UK has narrowed during the COVID-19 pandemic. …

Published: 31 March 2023

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‘Pandemic of tragedy’: the deaths caused by gaps in online drug supply regulations

In the past ten years, multiple people have died after taking drugs they purchased online, with coroners warning that people will continue to do so without tighter regulations in place.…

Published: 30 March 2023

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Infographic: the ethnicity awarding gap for the pharmacy degree during COVID-19

Changes to pharmacy degree assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic may have helped to narrow the awarding gap between white graduates and their ethnic minority counterparts, but work is ongoing to understand why.…

Published: 23 March 2023

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Testosterone for menopause: why women face difficulties accessing treatment

GPs and specialist menopause clinics are overwhelmed with demand for testosterone to treat low libido in post-menopausal women; however, there are still no products licensed for women in the UK, leaving them to 'guesstimate' doses using male formulations or being forced to pay privately.…

Published: 16 March 2023

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Complex and inflexible: the shortcomings of serious shortage protocols

Use of ‘serious shortage protocols’ dropped significantly in 2022, despite growing numbers of medicine shortages, leaving pharmacists calling for the system to be overhauled.…

Published: 9 March 2023

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Effective deprescribing: getting the most from medicine

In this episode of The PJ Pod, two experts outline what it takes to deliver effective deprescribing.…

Published: 7 March 2023

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Untangling anorexia: psychedelics offer hope for a neglected condition

Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder yet there are no medicines licensed globally to treat it; however, that might be about to change.…

Published: 2 March 2023

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Spotlight: the ‘new thalidomide’

In the first of a new podcast series, we consider whether the UK is doing enough to prevent harm from sodium valproate.…

Published: 24 February 2023