Patients

Patients taking warfarin should self-monitor their coagulation status, says NICE

NICE recommends two point-of-care coagulometers for use by patients – Roche Diagnostic’s CoaguChek XS system and Alere’s INRatio2 PT/INR monitor.…

UK considers adding boys to HPV vaccination programme

Public health authorities are considering whether boys should receive the HPV vaccine.…

E-cigarettes unhelpful for cancer patients, study suggests

Study casts doubt on the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes as an aid to quit smoking.…

NICE puts brakes on its planned overhaul of drugs evaluation processes

England’s health technology body will not push ahead with its proposed introduction of value-based assessments — including burden of illness and societal impact — in the evaluation of new drugs for use by the NHS.…

Northwest Biotherapeutics’s brain tumour therapy considered for early access in the UK

An experimental cell therapy for brain tumours is the first medicine to be selected for fast-track designation under a new early access scheme in the UK, the Department of Health (DH) announced on 16 September 2014.…

Paradoxical bronchoconstriction occurs in 5% of COPD patients treated with beta-2-agonists

African–American patients with COPD are more likely to be affected by therapy-induced bronchoconstriction, study suggests.…

Patients offer insight into clinical research, RPS conference hears

Input from patients on the design and execution of clinical research can provide a valuable perspective that healthcare professionals may not offer, a researcher says.…

Role for smartphones and social media in medicine safety

An app will be developed to make it easy for healthcare professionals and the public to report suspected adverse drug reactions.…

Prescription charge overhaul would raise £1bn a year for NHS, says think tank

A leading think tank is advising the government to review prescription charges in England to raise an additional £1bn a year to help fund NHS and social care in the future.…

Statin use in hospital for haemorrhagic stroke linked to improved survival

A retrospective cohort study suggests that statin use among patients with intracerebral haemorrhage improves survival.…