PJ, 9/16 May 2015, Vol 294, No 7861/2

National pharmacy board elections: voting

Voting papers for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s 2015 national pharmacy board elections have now been emailed or posted (if a member or Fellow requested this) to members and fellows in England. Any member or Fellow who has not received voting papers should contact UK Engage (tel 0345…

HIV self testing should not replace face-to-face diagnosis

People who are reluctant to get tested for HIV at a clinic may opt to use a new home test, but they will do so without professional support.…

Research gets clever with smartphone apps

New technologies to facilitate healthcare research must be embraced, with a healthy dose of scepticism.…

ResearchKit: a clever tool to gather clinical data

New software from Apple makes it easy for iPhone users to contribute to medical research but scientists warn there may be pitfalls.…

Impaired kidney function may not justify avoidance of nitrofurantoin

Advice not to use nitrofurantoin to treat patients with urinary tract infections who have impaired kidney function may be unfounded, research suggests.…

Community pharmacists play important role in palliative care

Good communication between all members of the multidisciplinary team is essential for providing good quality palliative care. Unfortunately, community pharmacists are often not included in this and so simply do not know who their palliative care patients are. Many of the problems faced by palliative…

Combining chemotherapy with immunotherapy is promising treatment for advanced prostate cancer

Using mouse models, researchers learn that immune cell manipulation in combination with chemotherapy achieves prostate cancer remission.…

Time to expand use of PrEP to prevent spread of HIV infection

There is growing evidence that pre-exposure prophylaxis is efficacious, safe and cost-effective in preventing high-risk individuals from getting HIV.…

What closer ties with GP practices will mean for pharmacists

Following proposals for pharmacists and GPs to work more closely on patient care, Stephen Robinson looks at reactions to the idea and explains what needs to happen for the vision to become reality.…

E-cigarettes are creating the next generation of addicts

I note from The BMJ (2015;350:h2083) that e-cigarette use has tripled in middle and high school students in the United States from 2013 to 2014. This makes clear the intentions of the companies that market these products. More of the American school students now us…