Evidence-based medicine

Researchers question evidence base for alcohol addiction drug

A drug used to treat problems associated with alcohol dependence in the UK was licensed and recommended for use on the NHS despite insufficient evidence to prove its effectiveness, according to researchers at the University of Stirling.…

How to conduct a literature review

The purpose of literature reviews and how to execute them.…

Andrew Herxheimer (1925–2016)

Andrew Herxheimer was a champion of evidence-based medicine and founder of the Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin.…

Menopausal women deserve the chance to discuss taking HRT

New national guidelines on treating menopause symptoms in women will re-open the discussion between clinician and patient on the merits of using hormone replacement therapy.…

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.…

Osimertinib given green light under UK’s early access to medicines scheme

A new treatment for locally advanced or metastatic non small-cell lung cancer, osimertinib, is being made available to patients under the UK government’s early access to medicines scheme.…

Researchers question use of methylphenidate for ADHD patients

Clinicians cannot know for sure whether taking methylphenidate will improve the lives of children with ADHD because of the quality of the available evidence, according to the lead author of a Cochrane Review.…

European drug regulator finds HPV vaccine not linked to syndromes

There is no evidence to suggest that the human papillomavirus vaccine causes two syndromes in young women, the European Medicines Agency has concluded in a safety review.…

Sleep disorders: treatment

Selecting the most appropriate drug treatments for sleep disorders in the absence of trial data or evidence-based protocols.…

More drugs qualifying for FDA accelerated review, driven by non-innovative medicines

Over the past 30 years, more drugs qualified for accelerated approval programmes with the FDA despite not being first-in-class medicines.…