Pregnant women warned not to stop taking prescribed drugs without medical advice Two-thirds of maternal deaths are due to an unrelated medical or mental health condition which has not been well-controlled rather than from a complication of pregnancy, says a new report.…
EMA says flu vaccine is safe after deaths in ItalyThere is no evidence that Novartis’s Fluad is unsafe, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) says, after 13 deaths in Italy were reported as being associated with the influenza vaccine.…
Pharmacy flu vaccinations increase in Wales Nearly 8,000 people were vaccinated against influenza at Welsh pharmacies in 2013–2014, according to data published by the Welsh Government.…
Initial Fluad investigations find no manufacturing defectPreliminary investigations have found no manufacturing defect in the influenza vaccine Fluad, which has been linked to the deaths of 13 older people in Italy.…
Phase I trial of GlaxoSmithKline’s Ebola vaccine shows it is well tolerated No major adverse events were reported in an Ebola vaccine phase I trial involving 20 volunteers.…
Our knowledge and understanding of e-cigarettes is still limitedA letter from M Cunningham exhorts “those in the profession opposed to e-cigarettes to come around in light of growing evidence” ( The Pharmaceutical Journal 2014;293:599). To support this argument, she cites the opinion of experts who spoke at a recent co…
Triaging urgent care patients via a non-emergency telephone helpline Reema Caddies splits her time working between urgent care helpline NHS 111 at Yorkshire Ambulance Service and managing medicines for Local Care Direct, which operates an out-of-hours GP service.…
Community pharmacists could screen at-risk groups for liver disease According to The Lancet’s commission, community pharmacists could play a key role in helping to improve liver disease services in primary care, say hepatology specialists.…
Ibrutinib launched for treatment of mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia Ibrutinib, a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has been launched in the UK for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.…
NHS England issues naloxone warningInappropriate use of naloxone can cause patients severe distress and can be fatal, says NHS England in a Patient Safety Alert.…