The Council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has announced a fee increase of 2.2% for 2010, following the outcome of the 2010 fees consultation and a review of the Society’s financial position. It is the second year in a row that fees have not been raised significantly. Last year’s fees only rose by the annual inflationary rise and were between 3.9% - 4.5%.
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The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has called for clarification of the responsible pharmacist requirements but will not be asking the Department of Health to amend the commencement date of the regulations. The Society’s Council debated the responsible pharmacist requirements in the light of concerns amongst community and hospital pharmacists about their implementation.
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The Royal Pharmaceutical Society welcomed the decision by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency that medicines containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine should retain their status as pharmacy (P) medicines. President Steve Churton said: “We are delighted at the MHRA’s decision to keep cold and flu remedies containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as pharmacy (P) medicines.
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The NPA is pleased by today’s decision from the MHRA to keep pseudoephedrine a P medicine and have no doubt that community pharmacies will continue to ensure pseudoephedrine is sold in line with MHRA guidance. John Turk, NPA Chief Executive said: “We are absolutely delighted that our members were able to take up the mantle laid down by the MHRA 18 months ago.
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The National Prescribing Service (NPS) warns people are playing Russian roulette with their health when they take medicines inappropriately. Media reports this week about people mixing sleeping tablet, zolpidem (Stilnox), with energy drink Red Bull™ have failed to highlight the risks people are taking when they intentionally misuse pharmaceuticals. NPS CEO, Dr Lynn Weekes says people should ensure they know the risks and benefits of any medicine before taking it.
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New research released by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) reveals how older people are taking a cocktail of medicine without fully understanding what they are or the side effects they are causing. The RPSGB survey shows that nearly half (43%) of over 65’s are currently taking over five medicines at any one time. However, one in five admits to not always taking the medicine as prescribed.
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By systematically analysing MRI changes occuring in the brains of children with the metabolic disease glutaric aciduria type I researchers at Heidelberg University Hospital have succeeded for the first time in demonstrating reversible and permanent brain damage as well as elucidating its temporal evolution. The Heidelberg researchers now assume that during the course of the disease, the products of metabolism cause not only acute, but chronic toxic damage as well.
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The masterpieces that spring from the talents of Rembrandt, Van Gogh and other artists often begin with the creation of a gradient of colors on a palette. In a similar manner, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created an innovative device called the “microfluidic palette” to produce multiple, steady-state chemical gradients - gradual changes in concentration across an area - in a miniature chamber about the diameter of a pinhead.
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Italian and U.S. biologists this week report that a little-understood protein previously implicated in a rare genetic disorder plays an unexpected and critical role in building and maintaining healthy cells. Even more surprising, their report in the journal Nature shows that the protein, called “atlastin,” does its work by fusing intracellular membranes in a previously undocumented way.
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A novel anticancer agent, consisting of a monoclonal antibody linked to a chemotherapy drug, showed substantial antitumor activity in ovarian cancer cell lines and in mice, according to a study published online July 29 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The agent, known as an immunoconjugate, targets a protein, EphA2, which is overexpressed in many human cancers but is absent or expressed at low levels in normal tissues. Anil K. Sood, M.D.
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