Opioid overdose deaths ‘rising sharply’ in England and Wales, OECD says Deaths from opioid overdose are “rising sharply” in England and Wales as part of a continuing global crisis, according to an analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.…
Pharmacies verify 4,000 prescription exemptions in real-time checking pilot Nearly 4,000 prescription charge exemptions have been verified through the first stage of NHS Digital’s real-time exemption checking pilot scheme.…
Warnings on ‘diet’ drug must go further, RPS says The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has welcomed moves to highlight the potential lethal risks of the fertiliser 2,4 dinitrophenol that is used in some diet pills, but says they do not go far enough and reiterated its call for it to be banned.…
Pharmacy negotiators say centralised system for specials procurement could ‘drive down quality’ The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has warned against the government’s suggestion that a centralised system is the “desired future approach” to procuring specials.…
NHS patients owe £246m in unpaid penalties for prescription charge exemption errors NHS patients have accrued a total debt of £246m in unpaid penalty fees for incorrectly claiming free NHS prescriptions, the National Audit Office has said.…
NHS England cannabis access review to speak with families paying £40k for private prescriptions The All Party Parliamentary Group on Medical Cannabis under Prescription has said it has put forward 22 families to speak with NHS England as part of its “rapid processes evaluation” of NHS medical cannabis prescribing.…
Pharmacists ‘unqualified’ to follow government drug-switching protocols, say legal campaigners A legal campaign group has said pharmacists are “unqualified” to dispense alternative medicines during shortages in line with a government-issued protocol.…
Government delays consultation with pharmaceutical industry over generics price limiting powers A government consultation with the pharmaceutical industry over plans to use new powers to limit the price of generic medicines has been delayed until later in 2019, the Department of Health and Social Care has said.…
Pharmacist-led oral health intervention scheme to be rolled out after successful pilot A pilot programme in which pharmacists offer oral health advice to patients while they wait for prescriptions is due to be rolled out across the north east of England.…
All opioid medicines to contain clear warnings about addiction, health secretary announces All opioid medicines will need to carry prominent warnings about the risk of addiction, health and social care secretary, Matt Hancock, has announced.…
