News | Addiction and substance misuse

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Wales is first UK nation to publish guidance on analgesic stewardship

The guidance aims to improve patient outcomes, reduce analgesic-related harm and ensure cost-effective use of analgesics.…

Published: 17 November 2022

Feature

‘Pharmacists come into primary care to make a difference and prescribing is an important part of that toolkit’

Andy Christopherson, lead for prescribing and clinical pharmacy, East Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership…

Published: 6 October 2022

Feature

‘Understand what the role is and be prepared to defend it’

Deborah Hollywood, clinical pharmacist, York Road Group Practice, Ellesmere Port…

Published: 6 October 2022

News

Migraine and epilepsy drugs promoted to under-18s as weight-loss aids on TikTok

Exclusive: Social media platform removes posts after investigation by The Pharmaceutical Journal reveals that prescription-only drugs are being recommended to teenagers wanting to lose weight.…

Published: 22 September 2022

News

Patients in most deprived areas are 50% more likely to be prescribed dependency-forming drugs, finds NHS report 

In 2021/2022, 1.80 million patients were prescribed dependency-forming medicines, such as opioids and gabapentinoids, in England's most deprived areas, 1.66 times more than the 1.09 million in the least deprived areas.…

Published: 8 September 2022

News

Drug-related deaths increase by 6% in England and Wales to record levels

Data from the Office for National Statistics show there were 4,859 drug-related deaths in 2021, the highest number since records began in 1993.…

Published: 5 August 2022

News

Naloxone should be available over the counter, recommend Scottish government advisors

The Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce report said that mainstreaming naloxone would help to reduce 'harmful stigma" around substance use.…

Published: 22 July 2022

News

‘Deep disappointment’ as government rules out proposals for a national prescribed drug dependence helpline

Exclusive: A recommended national prescribed drug dependence helpline will not be taken forward by the government, meeting minutes have revealed.…

Published: 15 July 2022

Feature

Opioids: what can be done about long-term prescribing?

Recent data show the number of patients taking long-term opioids has increased significantly, suggesting there is still progress to make in this area of prescribing.…

Published: 30 June 2022

News

Long-term opioid prescribing rates rose by almost a third during the COVID-19 pandemic

Exclusive: "Worrying" NHS data show a dramatic escalation in the number of patients prescribed opioids for longer than three months.…

Published: 29 June 2022