Non-pharmacy retailers ignore selling guidelines for paracetamol and aspirin, study shows Secret shopper study reveals more than half of retailers sold more than the recommended quantity of paracetamol or aspirin in one transaction.…
Supervision: what needs to change to move pharmacy forward? The board set up to review medicines legislation and to advise UK government ministers on pharmacy policy is due to make recommendations on how the rules around ‘supervision’ should change.…
Acute confusional state diagnosed in healthy teenager after OTC codeine use Pharmacists have been warned to be aware of the potential for over-the-counter cough and cold remedies that contain codeine to cause confusion in young people.…
Review of 2015: ten developments that are changing pharmacy The pharmacy landscape continues to shift amid a backdrop of austere UK public spending and the rising spectre of centralised dispensing in the community. The Pharmaceutical Journal presents ten developments that affected pharmacists in 2015.…
UK Nurofen advertisements under scrutiny after claims they are ‘misleading’ Nurofen Express advertisements are being investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK in response to complaints that they are misleading.…
Study casts doubt on paracetamol use for managing flu symptoms Taking paracetamol to manage influenza makes no difference in terms of fighting the virus, reducing patients’ temperature or alleviating other symptoms, according to new research.…
Chemicals found in e-cigarettes could cause lung problems Diacetyl, a flavouring chemical found in some e-cigarettes, has been linked to cases of the severe respiratory disease bronchiolitis obliterans or “popcorn lung”.…
European folic acid recommendations have not reduced birth defects Birth registry data show neural tube defects have not fallen in the past 20 years despite folic acid recommendations.…
NICE consults on its first guideline on the safe use of controlled drugs The first national guideline for the safe use and management of controlled drugs has been published in draft form by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and is now out for consultation.…
Study supports safety of medical cannabis for chronic pain Patients with chronic pain who medicate with cannabis were at no higher risk of serious adverse events than patients who did not take cannabis.…