Chemist & Druggist articles from December 2003

Chemist & Druggist archives from December 2003

CHI praises Hull pharmacists.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... The Commission for Health Improvement has commended a community pharmacy accreditation scheme in Hull. CHI clinical governance reviews for Eastern Hull PCT and West Hull PCT each identified the locally developed accreditation scheme as...

Employers face bill for checks.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Employee pharmacists and pharmacy technicians could face legal checks and land their employers with a #300 annual bill, under new proposals put forward by Home Office minister Hazel Blears. Ms Blears, a former health minister, is proposing...

Diabetes awareness.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... A diabetes awareness day at Craske's Pharmacy, Leeds resulted in 100 patients being tested for the disease and sales of 50 glucose meters. Several GP referrals were made and many customers brought in their existing meters to be checked....

C&D: Counterpart 2004.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... The cost of training materials and registration for the Cambridge Counterpart Pharmacy Assistants Training Course will increase with effect from January 1, 2004. Training packs (containing enough learning materials for four students) will...

NHS Wales under pressure over delays in implementing pharmacy strategy.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Welsh health minister Jane Hutt is coming under pressure over delays in implementing the Welsh pharmacy strategy. Former nursing lecturer Val Lloyd, a Labour member of the National Assembly, asked recently whether Ms Hutt possessed any...

No comment from health minister.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Health minister Rosie Winterton failed to respond to concerns over the proposed changes to the control of entry regulations. Asked at an All-Party Pharmacy Group meeting on Monday whether the proposed measures would allow PCTs to...

Palliative care award.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... A network of community pharmacists offering palliative care medication and support has won the Napp Palliative Care Award. The Tayside Community Pharmacy Palliative Care Network was set up in June 2002 and involved 15 pharmacists. The...

Welsh central purchasing deal hits the rocks.
December 6, 2003... Drug manufacturers have come close to killing off a proposal from the Auditor General that the Welsh NHS should switch to central purchasing of 300 primary care medicines. Wales would save #50 million a year on a spending of #410m,...

Over 1,000 support petition for Charter referendum.
December 6, 2003... The Save our Society (SOS) campaign presented a petition to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society on Tuesday evening, demanding a referendum on the new Charter. Hassan Argomandkhah, who led the petition, collected 620 faxes and letters, 412...

MHRA issues OneTouch alert.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Pharmacists should not dispense plasma-calibrated Lifescan OneTouch glucose test strips, following an alert from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. According to the MHRA, the strips, which are used with LifeScan...

Charities cast doubt on reforms.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Two public health charities are urging the Government to delay the control of entry reforms until the impact of LPS pilots and the new contract framework has been evaluated. In a joint response to Vision for Pharmacy, Pharmacy HealthLink...

Entry proposals must go, say MPs.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... A group of 36 Tory and Ulster Unionist MPs has put forward a Commons motion urging the Government to shelve proposals arising from the OFT report on community pharmacies. Led by the shadow cabinet co-ordinator for health and education...

Limit exemptions, urges PSNC.(Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee)
December 6, 2003... Limit the scope of the proposed exemptions and end the financial uncertainty for community pharmacies, PSNC has urged in its response to the DoH consultation, Proposals to reform and modernise the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1992....

Weight training in Barnet.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Five Barnet pharmacists are running pharmacy-based weight management clinics in a six-month pilot. If successful it may be rolled out throughout Barnet after it concludes at the end of April next year. The brainchild of the Barnet...

CoMedis.com signs up Numark and NTL.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Numark and its wholesaler division NTL have signed up as subscribing members to the pharmacy transfer order and information service operated by CoMedis.com. Over 2,000 pharmacist users are registered to CoMedis.com so far and the company...

EU moves to guarantee medicines supply.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... The European Association of Pharmaceutical Full-Line Wholesalers (GIRP) has welcomed the amendment to the review of EU pharmaceutical legislation by the Environment Committee of the European Parliament, to safeguard the flow of medicines...

Galen sells PDMS to founder.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Galen Holdings has sold its Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing Services business for #20 million to a company under the control of founder and former chairman Dr Allen McClay. PDMS provides a range of specialist services for the...

OFT asks for views on salbutamol inhalers.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... The Office of Fair Trading is asking interested parties to give their views following IVAX International's completed acquisition of 3M's distribution business for certain asthma products. On October 20 the OFT announced the merger would be...

MHRA strengthened as watchdog.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... The Department of Health has announced new measures to ensure companies accurately advertise medicines and that Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency investigations into complaints are more transparent. The measures aim to...

Skipton is Lloyds' best.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Lloydspharmacy in New Market Street, Skipton, has been named the national winner of the 2003 Lloydspharmacy, GlaxoSmithKline Academy of Excellence Award. Formerly known as the Branch of the Year Award, the competition saw finalists from...

Comment from the Editor.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
December 6, 2003... The Prime Minister's `Big Conversation' was launched last week. Xrayser is sceptical, and perhaps with good reason. On a whole range of issues - from the war in Iraq to tuition fees and hunting - this Government has shown an amazing ability to...

YOUR VIEWS: Statistics should carry a health warning.
December 6, 2003... Alan Castell, a normally mild mannered pharmacist from Barking, gets tangled up in statistics "There are three kinds of untruth: lies, damn lies and statistics," Benjamin Disraeli is attributed as saying. I was arrested last week by a...

NORTHERN IRELAND NOTEBOOK: The heavy hand of the fraud squad.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Some years ago, an extensive report highlighted that the Health Service was being subjected to significant fraud. For a long time there seemed to be a naive assumption that a public service designed to care for the nation's health would not be...

When will the penny drop at the DoH?(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... From the experience of everyday practice, and now as confirmed by a GP survey conducted by Lloydspharmacy, I know millions of GP hours are wasted each year dealing with patient problems which could be dealt with far more efficiently by the...

Parallel imports back in the spotlight.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... If a report by researchers from the LSE on parallel importing is true then the Department of Health might well wish to look afresh at parallel imported drugs (C&D November 29, p9). The study looked at the cost savings to the health services of...

It's good to talk, but try listening too!(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... The Big Conversation is Tony Blair's latest attempt at involving the public in developing policy. The internet allows this vast consultative document to be read as separate chapters and appropriate responses made. However, the question is not...

Report PSNC Conference: Examining the future.(Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Lesley Ribbens reports from Birmingham With the re-negotiation of the core contract, community pharmacy faces the most fundamental challenge it has seen in the past 60 years, chairman Barry Andrews told the sixth annual PSNC Community...

Report PSNC Conference: April target for contract framework.(Phamaceutical Services Negotiating Committee)
December 6, 2003... The new contract will not be in place by April 2004, but there will be agreement "in terms of the detailed specification and funding", predicts Steve Williams, chairman of PSNC's contract planning committee. A phased introduction is...

Report PSNC Conference: Funding equation still unclear.(Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee)
December 6, 2003... The overall funding for the new contract is an equation. The principle is agreed with the DoH, but the costs are not, so it is not yet known whether the equation balances, said PSNC financial executive Godfrey Horridge. The total payment...

Report PSNC Conference: GMS contract means more scripts.
December 6, 2003... The new GMS contract will mean more prescriptions, according to Chris Town, chief executive officer of Greater Peterborough Primary Care Partnership. Only 25 per cent of people with chronic diseases are treated properly, so there is a need to...

PHARMACY UPDATE: Life with antiretrovirals.
December 6, 2003... In this second article on HIV treatments, Elizabeth Davies and Victoria Latham, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, suggest ways in which community pharmacists may contribute to the care of these patients Objectives * To be aware of...

Echinacea is not effective in children, claim researchers.
December 6, 2003... Echinacea is not effective for treating children's colds, claim researchers in the USA, but manufacturers are disputing the scientists' claims. Over 500 children were included in the study and were randomly given either placebo or...

Aspirin & NSAIDs fine for post-MI.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Aspirin's cardioprotective effects for post-MI patients are not diminished by concomitant ibuprofen prescribing, claims a study in the USA. The study, which followed over 230,000 post-MI patients, found that there was no difference in the...

Older BP drugs as good as each other.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Blood pressure control is similar in hypertensive patients taking beta- blockers or calcium-antagonists, and neither group is at greater risk of further cardiac events, say researchers in the USA. The INVEST trial looked at 22,576...

Vitamin B12 helps depression.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Vitamin B supplements could be beneficial to people with depression, claim researchers in Finland. The news has been welcomed by a depression charity. The study found that patients with higher levels of vitamin B12 in their blood responded...

Andrews extra Christmas fizz.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... The Andrews brand is being extended in time for the festive season with Andrews Plus+ effervescent powder. Sugar-free Andrews Plus + is formulated to settle the stomach, relieve headaches and ease indigestion. Ingredients include...

Generic gabapentin.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... APS/Berk has launched the first generic gabapentin indicated for epilepsy and neuropathic pain. Gabapentin is available in 100mg, 300mg, 400mg capsules, 600mg and 800mg tablets, all in packs of 100. 100mg #20.57 110-8166 300mg...

Humulin packaging.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Lilly has brought its insulin products' packaging in line with the International Diabetes Federation's standards. Each formulation of insulin will have a dominant colour, regardless of manufacturing company. In addition, Lilly's products...

Zyprexa BD licence.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Zyprexa (olanzapine) has been granted a licence by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for the prevention of recurrence of bipolar disorder in individuals who have successfully treated their manic episode with Zyprexa. ...

Aerocrom discontinued.(Castlemead's inhalers)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Castlemead is discontinuing Aerocrom inhaler (sodium cromoglycate 1mg, salbutamol sulphate 100mcg) and Aerocrom Syncroner (sodium cromoglycate 1mg, salbutamol sulphate 100mcg). The company expects that stocks will be exhausted in February...

`What a Performance' from Centrum multivitamins.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Centrum Performance will be in the public eye during December and January backed by a #1.7 million advertising burst. Two new commercials for the multivitamin product will be on air from December 27 and a new radio campaign has started this...

Throwaway thermometers have family appeal.(InfoHealth Distribution Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... InfoHealth is launching a range of easy-to-use, mercury-free disposable thermometers. EZEtemp is an oral or underarm thermometer for adults and children. The thin, flexible plastic strip is designed as a disposable, single-use or...

Babyfood planning service goes online.(Shelfmax: www.shelfmax.co.uk)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Heinz has launched a joint online initiative for pharmacies in conjunction with space planning consultant Shelfmax. Pharmacists can log on to the Shelfmax website to receive babyfood merchandising plans that are tailored to their individual...

Christmas closures.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... * Phoenix depots will close on December 25 and 26. Orders taken on the evening of Christmas Eve will be delivered on December 27. All depots will be closed on New Year's Day and Glasgow and Aberdeen will also be closed on January 2. *...

All clear for Niquitin CQ New Year campaign.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... NiQuitin CQ Clear patch will be back on TV after Christmas with a #1.6 million campaign to maximise on the New Year quitting season. The `clear day' TV commercial communicates the importance of 24-hour protection to fight the nicotine...

Listen to Zantac 75.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Zantax 75 Dissolve is taking to the airwaves in the run up to Christmas backed by a #330,000 national radio campaign. Three commercials use wild animals in their native environments to highlight the message that the product is a soluble way...

Mediterranean delights.(Natural Mediterranean Products Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Natural Mediterranean is expanding the distribution of its bath and body range in pharmacies. The Tact Natural Feeling Pure Olive Oil Collection comprises body oil, shampoo, conditioner, foam bath and body lotion. All the products contain...

Deep Heat goes up in lights.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Young sports players and gym users are being targeted with a #1.3 million campaign for the Mentholatum Deep Heat range this winter. Advertising centres on the brand's first poster campaign in shopping sites, leisure centres and gyms. ...

Fighting heartburn fast.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... In preparation for the peak overindulgence season, pharmacy-only Gaviscon Advance will be on TV this month in a #500,000 campaign running throughout the Christmas period and into the start of next year. The commercial shows a woman who is...

Cold comfort.(www.olbas.co.uk/children)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... A new microsite for Olbas for Children has been designed to provide advice for parents on how to deal with children's colds. For more information: www.olbas.co.uk/children Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Xmas promotion.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... C&G Vitamin Centre is running a `buy six get one free' Christmas offer on its vitamins, minerals, amino acids and organic herb range. The promotion will run until December 23. For more information: Tel: 0845 330 2205. Copyright: CMP...

SMOKING CESSATION: Going up in smoke.
December 6, 2003... As New Year approaches, giving up smoking will be one resolution many people will be making. Sarah Purcell looks at how the pharmacist can help prevent those resolutions from being broken In the UK some 29 per cent of men and 25 per cent of...

SMOKING CESSATION: How soon do you light up?(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Asking smokers how soon they light their first cigarette after waking could be a better indication of how addicted they are to cigarettes than the number they smoke per day, according to a new study (Monaldi Arch Chest Dis 2003; 59:1, 91-94)....

Carbon monoxide monitoring system.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Bedfont Scientific has launched a carbon monoxide monitoring system that can be used by smokers at home to aid their quit attempt. The Smokerlyszer System (#39.99) helps smokers to estimate their level of nicotine dependence by measuring the...

New to the Nicotinell NRT range.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... New to the Nicotinell NRT range are Liquorice coated gum and Extra Strength Mint lozenge. The Liquorice-coated gum is available in 2mg and 4mg strengths and pack sizes of 24 and 96. The Extra Strength Mint lozenge is available in a 2mg strength...

New lozenge.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... NiQuitin CQ is now available in a 2mg and 4mg mint flavour lozenge. The new lozenge uses the same method of dosing as the original lozenge and gum - time to first cigarette - to gauge the right dosage for the smoker. The launch is being...

Natural smoking cessation method.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Nicobloc is a natural smoking cessation method to allow smokers to give up gradually. The syrup is applied to the filter of a cigarette before smoking to prevent up to 33 per cent (over the course of a week) of tar and nicotine from being...

New survey by Nicorette.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... A new survey by Nicorette found that 88 per cent of smokers and ex- smokers welcomed advice from the pharmacy about giving up their habit. An important point to remember, says the company, is that without correct advice customers using NRT gum...

Honeyrose Method.(Honeyrose Products Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... The Honeyrose Method encourages smokers to follow a three-week plan, in which they swap from their regular cigarettes to herbal cigarettes, and then gradually reduce the herbal cigarettes they smoke until they can do without. Honeyrose...

IntraPharmQ smoking survey.
December 6, 2003... Ninety five per cent of pharmacists do not smoke, according to a C&D online smoking cessation survey on IntraPharmQ. The results of the survey also show that over a quarter of pharmacists have first-hand experience of quitting. A fifth of...

Alpharma - Appointments.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Alpharma has appointed Sara Vincent as UK sales and marketing director. Ms Vincent has broad experience in the field as her previous job was business unit director for Novartis UK. Also joining Alpharma is Cass Khan in the role of...

ADL Healthcare - Appointment.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Trevor Davis has been appointed non-executive director at ADL Healthcare. Prior to this appointment, Mr Davis was managing director and chief operating office at Shire Pharmaceuticals, and has experience with Eli Lilly and Wyeth Labs. ...

Celltech Group - Appointment.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Celltech Group plc has announced the appointment of Grahaem Brown as director of development. Prior to this, Dr Brown was head of clinical operations at Pfizer, and has 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, having held...

L'Oreal - Appointments.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Sophie Gasperment has been appointed managing director for L'Oreal's consumer and professional products divisions in the UK. She takes over from Geoff Skingsley who will move to Paris to take up the position of deputy director general of...

Pharmacist going for triathlon gold.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Pharmacist Nicola Lord will put all thoughts of work behind her this weekend when she competes in the World Triathlon championships. Nicola will be flying out to Queenstown, New Zealand, with the other 300 members of the British team to...

Pharmacist wins Quit award.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... Nilesh Shah, pictured above with Quit chief executive Steve Crone and Novartis Consumer Health sales director David Francis, has been named Smoking Cessation Supporter of the Year at the 2003 Quitter of the Year awards. Mr Shah was quoted...

There's something different about you.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... A New Zealand study into the effects on women whose partners have taken Viagra has had some surprising results. Several women reported being worried about the sudden change in their partner's behaviour as they didn't know the man was...

Classic golf tournament.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2003... This year's Phoenix and NTL sponsored classic golf tournament was held last month at the famous Turnberry course in Ayrshire, Scotland. The event was won by the team comprising Phoenix sales representative Peter Shadwick and pharmacists Anup...

Society petitions Privy Council for Charter.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... The Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Council has petitioned the Privy Council for a new Royal Charter. Sixteen Council members voted in favour of the revised Charter. Those against were the Save Our Society campaign members Noel Wicks, Douglas...

SOS group may counter petition.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... Anti-Charter campaigners are considering a counter petition to the Privy Council. Save Our Society member Graham Phillips said its leading counsel had contacted the Privy Council to warn that a counter petition was "inevitable". Mr...

Arguments given for and against the new Charter.
December 13, 2003... A ballot on the new Charter would delay matters, but it was "better to be late and right than early and wrong", argued Nicholas Wood at last week's Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Council meeting. Proposing a motion calling on Council to...

NICE chief criticises doctors.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... A leading medical expert has criticised doctors' prescribing abilities. Sir Michael Rawlins, chairman of NICE, says in an article that errors occured in up to 11 per cent of primary care prescriptions. The article reviewed several studies...

In the throes of being formally submitted to the Queen.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... The Royal Pharmaceutical Society's petition for a new Royal Charter is in the throes of being formally submitted to the Queen following its arrival at a Privy Council meeting on Wednesday. The petition will go to a Privy Council committee for...

Pharmacists to play major role in primary healthcare reform.
December 13, 2003... Pharmacists could play a leading role in patient care following the Government's proposals to increase choice by making access to healthcare easier. Health secretary John Reid this week presented to Parliament a command paper, Building on...

Wales indicates key role for pharmacists in treating drug misuse.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... Wales is set to revamp its official policies on substance misuse with community pharmacies likely to take a leading role. A Welsh advisory panel examining substance misuse and needle exchange is due to report later this month and the Welsh...

`Bloggers' go online.(Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... Visitors to the PSNC website will be able to monitor the progress of 12 community pharmacists as they record activities in online diaries or `web logs'. Among interests recorded by the `bloggers' will be experiences of working for a PCT...

Online fee payment facility goes live.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... Pharmacists will be able to pay annual retention fees online this year. Forms for membership (fee increased to #205 for 2004) and premises (fee increased to #125) will be distributed this month as fees are due on January 1, 2004. For the...

First pharmacy to use the NHS logo on its shop fascia.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... Stuart Moul Pharmacy in Whitchurch, Bristol is believed to be the first pharmacy in South West England to use the NHS logo on its shop fascia. The decision follows the pharmacy's relocation to a residential area. Pharmacy owners Stuart and...

Welsh issue repeat dispensing consultation.
December 13, 2003... The Welsh Assembly Government has issued a consultation to examine repeat dispensing services. It is intended that the proposals, which are similar to those in England, will be introduced under the framework for a new pharmacy contract in...

UniChem calls for action over contract.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... Mike Smith, chairman of UniChem's Pharmacy Consultative Boards and non- executive chairman for UniChem Ltd is urging pharmacists to prepare for the new pharmacy contract. Reviewing some of the findings from the latest C&D/UniChem Business...

UK's first DPharm awarded.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... Mojgan Sani has been awarded the first Doctor of Practice in Pharmacy in the UK Ms Sani has been studying part-time at the University of Derby for just over three years. Her thesis, Lipid lowering in CHD and the role of the pharmacist in...

Protocol under test for statin sale.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... Johnson & Johnson.MSD is testing the feasibility of a protocol under which pharmacists could supply simvastatin 10mg over the counter. The protocol, being tested by a pharmacy panel, includes a questionnaire for first-time purchasers,...

GSK boss scotches Bayer swap rumours.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... GlaxoSmithKline chief executive Dr Jean-Pierre Garnier has quashed rumours that the company could swap its OTC business for some parts of Bayer's drug research. Speaking at GSK's R&D day in London last week, Dr Garnier said: "Our...

AAH/EAP merger called off after OFT decision.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2003... AAH Pharmaceuticals and East Anglian Pharmaceuticals are to cancel their proposed merger following the Office of Fair Trading's decision to refer it to the Competition Commission. Penny Boys, OFT executive director, said: "There is a...