PJ, December 2016, Vol 297, No 7896

Thomas Geoffrey Booth (1928-2016)

Thomas Geoffrey Booth, past president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, founded the UK’s first department of pharmacy practice.…

Pilot areas named for community pharmacy urgent medication referral scheme

NHS England has published details of a new service that will see patients referred by NHS 111 to community pharmacies for urgent repeat medicines.…

Emergency hormonal contraception should be on general sale in the UK, charity urges

Emergency hormonal contraception should be available to buy from non-pharmacy retail outlets in the UK, urges the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, a reproductive health services charity.…

Targeting the CGRP protein could lead to a preventative treatment for migraine

It’s been a long time coming, but a new class of drugs targeting the CGRP protein could be the first preventative treatment specifically developed for migraine to hit the market.…

Deaths: Audrey Betty Sweetman

On 18 November 2016, Audrey Betty Sweetman, aged 81, of Bromborough, Merseyside. Mrs Sweetman registered with the Society in 1957 and left in 2007. …

Juno Therapeutics’ Rocket trial suspended after death

A clinical trial testing a new immunotherapy to treat cancer, which was stopped in July 2016 after three patients died and was restarted again, has been suspended for the second time following another death. Biopharmaceutical company Juno Therapeutics, based in Seattle, Washington, announced o…

Drug interactions with dietary or herbal supplements could be cause of hospital stays

Around 1 in 55 hospital admissions may have been caused by an adverse event triggered by a reaction between a dietary or herbal supplement and another medicine or supplement, according to Israeli research. As a result, the researchers say their findings suggest that medical staff need further …

Deaths: Brian Bernard Newbould

On 25 November 2016, Brian Bernard Newbould FRPharmS, aged 82, of Macclesfield, Cheshire. Dr Newbould registered with the Society in 1958 and was made a Fellow in 1978.…

Deaths: Michael Bryson

On 10 November 2016, Michael Bryson, aged 78, of Gillingham, Kent. Mr Bryson registered with the Society in 1961 and left in 2013.…

Drug errors occur in up to 27% of people living in nursing homes, study shows

Researchers say nursing homes need a more sophisticated error recording system after a meta-analysis showed that some sort of medication error had affected 16–27% of residents.…