PJ, 18 April 2015, Vol 294, No 7858

Patients can stop taking statins in terminal care, research suggests

Discontinuing statin use in patients with late-stage terminal illnesses is safe and may even be beneficial, according to research in JAMA Internal Medicine.…

HPV vaccine Gardasil 9 is approved by European drug regulator

A human papillomavirus vaccine that protects against nine different strains of the virus has been given preliminary approval by the European Medicines Agency.…

UK to become first country to offer meningococcal B vaccine to babies

The meningococcal B (MenB) vaccine is to be added to the UK’s national childhood immunisation programme, likely from September 2015.…

Smoking cessation remuneration needs to improve

According to research by University College London ( The Pharmaceutical Journal 2015;294:293), the drop in the number of smokers who quit smoking through the NHS Stop Smoking Service was mainly a result of insufficient investment in advertisement for the service. I believe the decline is…

Past antibiotic exposure linked to increased diabetes risk

Taking more than one course of some antibiotics is associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to research published in the European Journal of Endocrinology.…

Bruce Warner: getting the best value and outcomes from the use of medicines

Deputy chief pharmaceutical officer Bruce Warner discusses promoting the medicines optimisation agenda and shares his views on broader issues affecting pharmacists.…

Pharmacists working in GP surgeries is an opportunity, not a threat

The Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society have launched an exciting initiative where pharmacists will be working in GP surgeries ( The Pharmaceutical Journal 2015;294:353). I have been delighted to see the media response and the r…

Constipation: managing the condition in adults

How to assess patients with constipation and select the right treatment to minimise the risk of complications.…