Central nervous system agents

Coroner’s report recommends tightening regulation around forms of codeine and morphine

A report calls for opioids that are prescription-only medicines to be regulated as schedule 3 drugs, to make them harder to access inappropriately.…

Pain management and the role of pharmacy (video)

In this video, Gino Martini, chief scientist at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, outlines evidence-based management options for acute, chronic and chronic primary pain to address misconceptions and promote best practice in pharmacy.…

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How our multidisciplinary approach helped us reduce our practice’s high-dose prescribing by almost half

Senior GP pharmacist Rory Donnelly explains how his practice helped reduce high-dose opioid prescribing by an average of 40%.…

Valproate use in women: minimising the risks

It is necessary that pharmacists and pharmacy teams ensure the safe and appropriate prescribing of valproate in line with the current Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency guidance.…

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Opioid use in palliative care: selection, initiation and optimisation

Opioids are commonly administered as part of end-of-life care. Pharmacists should know how to select, initiate and optimise opioids to best meet patient needs.…

Misuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs to obtain illicit highs: how pharmacists can prevent abuse

An overview of the range of medicines that are being misused, diverted, or recorded on websites reporting new trends and experimentations of drug abuse for recreational purposes and how pharmacists can detect, understand and prevent drug diversion activities and drug-misuse adverse ef…

Healthcare professionals must warn patients of opioid dependence risk, advises medicines regulator

Healthcare professionals should warn patients taking opioids of their risk of dependence and addiction, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has advised.…

‘Deep concern’ over ‘not fit for purpose’ draft NICE guidance on chronic pain

Experts in pain medicine have said they are “deeply concerned” with the “confusing” terminology used in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s draft guidance on chronic pain.…

Little change in antipsychotic prescribing in decade despite withdrawal recommendations, study finds

Prescriptions of antipsychotic drugs for adults with intellectual disabilities did not change significantly in the decade between 2004 and 2014 in the Greater Glasgow area, a study in BMJ Open has said.…

Half of pharmacists are not discussing risks of valproate with patients

Just under half of pharmacists are not discussing the risks of taking sodium valproate when dispensing the drug to women, and just over half of pharmacists are not providing a patient card warning of the risks, a survey by three epilepsy charities has found.…