A study published in this week’s PLoS Medicine shows that commercial electronic prescribing systems (commonly known as e-prescribing, in which prescribers use a computer to order medications for their patients through a system with the help of prompts, aids, and alerts) could substantially reduce prescribing error rates in hospital in-patients…
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According to an investigation by researchers from the University of British Columbia, University of Toronto and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), the cost of prescription medication affects 1 in 10 Canadians, and 1 in 4 individuals without medication insurance cannot afford to have their prescriptions filled…
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Compared to similar people who don’t take them, nursing home residents with dementia who take average doses of a class of drugs used to treat depression are three times more likely to have an injurious fall. These are the findings of a new study from The Netherlands published online in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology on Wednesday…
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Fraudulent and substandard antimalarial drugs could be wrecking the chances of winning the war against malaria in Africa, researchers from the Wellcome Trust-Mahosot Hospital-Oxford University Tropical Medicine Research Collaboration reported in the Malaria Journal…
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One in ten Canadians cannot afford to take their prescription drugs as directed, according to an analysis by researchers from the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto. The study, published in the CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) is the first to examine the relationship between drug insurance and the use of prescription drugs in Canada…
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Complaints of chipped and broken pills as well as inconsistent packaging have promoted Novartis Consumer Health Inc. (NCH) to recall certain lots of its products. Whilst there have been no reports of adverse effects to patients so far, Novartis has also warned of possible mixing of product. They have asked consumers to dispose of the product or return unused bottles…
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Novartis Consumer Health announced earlier today a recall on certain OTC medicines that were badly packaged and might have broken or chipped pills, as well as incorrect product mixed into bottles of pills. Rather worrying for consumers with risks of possible wrong or overdoses of their medicine…
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The majority of smokers do not appreciate the risks of their habit, according to new research from the NHS in England, which has launched a new Smokefree campaign to help smokers quit this New Year. The NHS commissioned research and consulting organisation YouGov to carry out the research. They surveyed 1,000 smoking adults in England between 8th and 12th December 2011…
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Joga Gobburu, PhD, MBA, FCP, a leading U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist for more than a decade, has joined the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, where he will establish a research and education program in the emerging field of pharmacometrics…
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Efforts to halt the growing abuse of prescription drugs must include addressing the availability of these drugs on the Internet and increasing physician awareness of the dangers posed by Internet pharmacies…
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