Drug legal status

Medicines regulator to publish review into safety of OTC laxatives

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is to publish the results of a four-year review into the safety of over-the-counter stimulant laxatives, a spokesperson has confirmed.…

Scotland should not limit prescribing of OTCs, RPS tells Scottish Parliament

Jonathan Burton, chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Scottish Pharmacy Board, has told members of the Scottish Parliament that it would be “ridiculous” if decisions on which medicines NHS practitioners are allowed to prescribe were based on their availability over the count…

Revised prescription forms with Universal Credit tick box to be introduced

Pharmacists can expect to see new FP10 prescription forms from the end of January 2020.…

Melatonin should not be available through NHS for treatment of jet lag, experts say

Melatonin for the treatment of jet lag should be added to the list of drugs that should not be paid for by the NHS, an expert drug review published in Drug and Therapeutic Bulletin has concluded.…

Pharmacist given 28-month jail sentence for supplying controlled medicines to black market

A pharmacist from West Bromwich has been sentenced to 28 months in jail for diverting controlled medicines to the black market.…

‘Urgent review’ of medical cannabis access needed to curb use of street drugs, says trade body

The Centre for Medicinal Cannabis has called on the government to “urgently review” access to medical cannabis, to prevent patients from having to rely on illegal and unregulated “street” cannabis.…

Pharmacists can help patients get the most out of their vitamin D supplements

I was delighted to read Lisa Jamieson’s opinion piece ‘‘It’s not just medicines that improve health — pharmacists need a better understanding of nutrition’. Jamieson is quite right to call on pharmacy educators to emphasise the importance of nutrition in hea…

NHS England to fast-track funding for Epidyolex

Patients will be able to access the cannabidiol medicine Epidyolex from the NHS from 6 January 2019, NHS England has announced.…

NICE recommends NHS reimbursement for cannabis-based medicine to treat severe epilepsy

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended that the NHS should pay for the cannabis-based medical product Epidyolex as an adjunct therapy for two severe forms of epilepsy.…

Top five infographics of 2019

Medicines-related harm is an issue close to the hearts of all of those who work in pharmacy, making our infographic on medication errors the most popular of 2019.…