PJ, July 2017, Vol 299, No 7903

An examination of how the prescription painkiller addiction epidemic exploded

Drug dealer, MD, by Anna Lembke…

Changing eating habits to reduce gastro-oesophageal reflux disease symptoms

The acid watcher diet: a 28-day reflux prevention and healing programme, by Jonathan Aviv…

Funding cuts are a threat to the public

Pharmacists must be professional perfectionists and activists in the pursuit of excellence, but the reality is that mistakes and accidents occur when we are busy, under pressure, tired or distracted. Safety, care and caution will only come if front line staff are protected appropriately and re…

An examination of the scientific history of medical genetics

Life histories of genetic disease: patterns and prevention in postwar medical genetics by Andrew J Hogan…

Mixed reviews about The Pharmaceutical Journal

I have read The Pharmaceutical Journal since the days of my pharmacy apprenticeship. I have always valued my receipt of it , have always found items of interest and value in it, and I continue to do so to this day. In addition, even though I go online to the website three or four times a we…

Warning about potential data loss in pharmacies

I write to warn fellow contractors in community pharmacy about a major IT issue that affects storage of patient data. One busy afternoon last summer, our local area suffered a power cut. Normal service was restored three hours later but our pharmacy computer system could not reboot. I received…

Superior shelf-life of Emerade

Last summer, I went into anaphylactic shock after being stung by a wasp. When I had recovered, my GP said I should carry an adrenaline auto-injector pen with me and we chose the Emerade brand rather than Epipen because, in addition to having a higher and more realistic dosage (500μg) i…

Scrap the opioid substitution service

I am a locum pharmacist who has worked in pharmacies in various regions of England. In many of the pharmacies I work in, I dispense methadone or buprenorphine to substance misusers and also provide clean needle packs as requested. It is disturbing for me to see drug misusers collect their methadone …