Interventional studies

Medical cannabis industry should be told to provide evidence if it wants products prescribed, MPs hear

Evidence for the prescribing of medical cannabis is lacking, Keith Ridge, chief pharmaceutical officer for England, has told MPs.…

Pharma industry should fund trials for medical cannabis, chief medical officer tells MPs

The pharmaceutical industry should fund randomised controlled trials of medical cannabis, to improve access to drugs for patients, Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, has told MPs.…

Exercise interventions reduce falls in older adults

The rate of falls in older adults living in the community can be effectively reduced with exercise interventions, the authors of a recent Cochrane review have concluded.…

Uncertainty on long-term efficacy of osteoarthritis medicines

There is a lack of evidence that medicines for osteoarthritis are effective in the long term, according to a review in the Journal of the American Medical Association.…

NHS England offers to fund doubling of PrEP trial

NHS England has said it will fund the doubling of the size of its trial of the HIV prevention drug PrEP to provide an additional 13,000 patients with the drug.…

No benefit to daily aspirin in healthy older people

Daily low-dose aspirin does not increase the duration of disability-free life in healthy older people, trial results published in the New England Journal of Medicine have shown.…

Let’s be honest about the new medicine service

We need to be sure whether the community pharmacy service works or not before expanding it to new patients.…

Methylphenidate should be first choice ADHD drug in children, Lancet study concludes

The preferred first-line treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children is methylphenidate, a review of the evidence has concluded.…

Rheumatoid arthritis drug may reduce inflammation after stroke

The pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 plays a significant role in brain injury following ischemic stroke by inducing peripheral inflammatory mediators, such as interleukin-6. However, pre-clinical studies show its effects are reduced by the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist.…

Steroids do not reduce death from septic shock, study finds

Despite being used for more than four decades, steroid use does not reduce 90-day death rate in patients with septic shock…