PJ, January 2017, Vol 298, No 7897

RPS joins health bodies to transform digital sharing of patient records

RPS Scotland joins with health organisations to make a collective call for improved digital sharing of patient records across Scottish primary care services. …

Heartburn drug use during pregnancy associated with asthma in children

A new study shows that children born to women who take heartburn medicines when pregnant are at least a third more likely to develop asthma symptoms compared with non-users, but scientists say more research is needed to confirm whether there are any other reasons behind the possible link.…

Progress with rebalancing medicines legislation programme is unacceptably slow

The snail-like progress of the rebalancing medicines legislation programme continues to amaze me. In June 2014, an expert report on the programme’s impact on hospital pharmacy was completed but only uploaded onto the programme website in November 2016. It contains some radical but eminen…

Kidney cancer drug to be funded by NHS after manufacturer cuts price

Everolimus has been recommended for use in the NHS by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence after its manufacturer, Novartis, cuts its price.…

Q&A: WHO director-general candidates’ views on global health

Six candidates in the race to be director-general of the World Health Organization outline their priorities and vision for global health.…

Generics often have same active ingredient and dose as more expensive branded product

10 January 2017: Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) chief scientist, Jayne Lawrence, appeared on ITV’s new consumer programme Save Money: Good Health to talk about differences between branded and generic over the counter medicines. Lawrence explained to presenter Dr Ranj Singh that if the…

Treatment fund launched in Wales for newly approved drugs

An £80m new treatment fund to pay for high-cost drugs approved for use on the NHS in Wales has been launched.…

US agency reaffirms folic acid advice for women planning pregnancy

The US Preventive Services Task Force has reaffirmed its 2009 advice that all women who are planning or capable of pregnancy should take a daily supplement of folic acid of between 0.4mg and 0.8mg to reduce the risk of having a baby with neural tube defects.…

Hunt denies community pharmacy funding cuts will deepen NHS crisis

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has denied that the government’s decision to cut the community pharmacy budget in England will deepen the current NHS crisis.…

Pharmacists can reduce winter pressures on NHS Wales

6 January 2017: Sudhir Sehrawat, member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Welsh Pharmacy Board was interviewed on BBC 1 Wales’s Wales Today news programme about pharmacy’s role in reducing pressures on the NHS in Wales. Sehrawat focused primarily on influenza vaccination services…