Dieticians join ranks of prescribers More health professional groups in England are being given the chance to prescribe, sell and supply medicines, NHS England has announced.…
Engagement is vital for switching more medicines from prescription-only to over-the-counter, says UK regulator The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has emphasised that greater stakeholder and public engagement will be key to the success of its reclassification platform, set up in 2015 to help enable more medicines to be made available without prescription.…
Latest dispensing figures hold no surprisesThe latest report on prescriptions dispensed in the England, from the Health and Social Care Information Centre, make complete sense, writes Chris Chapman.…
Tackling prescription drug abuse There are signs that strategies to address prescription drug abuse are starting to work but will an increase in illegal drug use be the payoff?…
EMA recommends restrictions on codeine for children The European Medicines Agency is recommending that codeine-containing products used to treat coughs and colds should be banned for those aged under 12 years.…
Behind the scenes of medicines regulation Sir Michael Rawlins talks about how the MHRA intends to speed up approval of innovative medicines, involve pharmacists in reclassification and address drug shortages and trade in counterfeit medicines.…
NHS prescription charge system ‘profoundly unfair’, says RPS RPS criticises exemption criteria as survey finds healthcare professionals want reform.…
Older patients taking anticholinergic drugs are at risk of dementia People aged over 65 years who take some common over-the-counter or prescribed medicines for allergy, depression or an overactive bladder have an increased risk of developing dementia.…
Is it time to rethink the place of oral diclofenac? In light of the withdrawal of diclofenac from OTC sale in UK pharmacies over concerns about cardiovascular safety, it may be time to reconsider the role of the drug altogether.…
It shouldn’t be up to pharmacists to check prescription eligibility Expecting pharmacists to enforce the collection of prescription charges cannot be considered a professional duty.…
