Patient rights and advocacy

Safety first: delivering trans-inclusive care is everyone’s responsibility

The quality of trans-inclusive care is lagging behind other population groups, says Stewart O’Callaghan, chief executive and founder of OUTpatients, who lays out the challenges and necessary changes needed to remedy this issue.…

People harmed by valproate could receive £100,000 payout, patient safety commissioner says

In ‘The Hughes report’, the patient safety commissioner said people affected by valproate should get an interim payout, followed by further support based on their individual needs.…

How patient-centred are you? No, how patient-centred are you really?

The views expressed in this letter are those of the author’s. If you would like to submit a letter to The Pharmaceutical Journal, please click here. If I had been asked this question a couple of years ago, I would have answered: “Totally, utterly!” For nearly 20 …

Too often patient concerns over treatment are trivialised or ignored — this must end

Expert patient Andrew Taylor lost a decade of his life to crushing side effects after being prescribed steroids against his wishes, and he was only helped when healthcare professionals started to really listen.…

Don’t get too excited about ‘female Viagra’

FDA succumbs to pressure to approve first agent to treat hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women.…

First drug to improve sexual desire in women approved in the United States

Addyi (flibanserin), a drug dubbed the ‘female Viagra’, has been approved for the treatment of acquired, generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder in premenopausal women by the FDA.…

Patient consent in the UK

A ruling by the UK Supreme Court means patients must be given information tailored to their own needs before consent is obtained.…

Better information is needed to improve palliative care services

Gaps in access to palliative care services mean that many patients with life-limiting illnesses miss out on support they need, but there is much to learn about people’s experiences at the end of life.…

Pharmacists in India to alert customers to maximum price they can be charged for medicines

Medicines regulators in India have put forward proposals to ensure that consumers know the maximum price that they should be charged for certain medicines.…

Making our patients feel cared for

Lack of time is not an excuse for not being empathetic towards patients.…