Chemist & Druggist articles from January 2003

Chemist & Druggist archives from January 2003

Widespread support for single Welsh body.(Community Pharmacy Wales)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Pharmacy contractors in Wales have voted `unanimously' in favour of a single pharmacy representative committee, Community Pharmacy Wales (CPW), which has now been endorsed by the Welsh Assembly. The CPW is to be supported by three regional...

DoH sues drug firms for #28m.(the United Kingdom Department of Health launches a civil action to recover 28-million pounds)
January 4, 2003... Generic manufacturers are refuting a claim that they colluded to keep the price of warfarin artificially high, after the Department of Health launched a civil action to recover #28 million from them. The High Court claim, issued on December...

Increase in needle supply amounts.(Scottish Executive increases in the maximum number of issued needles and syringes for the needle exchange scheme)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The Scottish Executive has announced an increase in the maximum number of needles and syringes that can be issued at any one visit by a needle exchange scheme. The numbers available to intravenous drug injectors will now be: * a...

New pharmacy stats published.(Statistical details of general pharmaceutical services in England and Wales for 1992-93 to 2001-02)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Statistical details of general pharmaceutical services in England and Wales for the periods 1992-93 to 2001-02 have been published by the Department of Health. Among the findings for the decade are: * 10,463 pharmacies were in contract...

Palliative care cash ring fenced.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Public health minister Hazel Blears has announced that the extra #50m for palliative care announced in the NHS Cancer Plan will be retained as a central budget for three years from 2003-04. A national partnership group, including...

Going smoke-free in 2003.(GlaxoSmithKline's smoking cessation campaign)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Former England footballer Gary Lineker has kicked off the `Smoke-free in 2003' smoking cessation campaign sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline. The campaign encourages more smokers to visit their GP to seek help and advice and to use the New Year...

Public to have say in NICE's work.(National Institute for Clinical Excellence)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The National Institute for Clinical Excellence is running a pilot on its website where any interested stakeholder can suggest topics on which it can develop guidance. The Department of Health and the Welsh Assembly will assess all...

Views sought on patient privacy.(United Kingdom National Health Service)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The NHS Information Authority is formally asking pharmacists to get involved with the authority's national consultation on patient confidentiality. "Everyone with an interest in the NHS is encouraged to take part in a national consultation...

CPD intranet a success, says Boots.(Boots The Chemists' continuing professional development intranet site for its pharmacists)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Boots The Chemists is reporting a success with the launch of its continuing professional development intranet site for the company's 4,000 pharmacists. Boots' professional capabilities department sought the pharmacists' opinions, resulting...

Maguire, McElnay and Morrow awarded fellowships by PSNI.(Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland awards fellowships to Dr Terry Maguire, Professor James McElnay and Dr Norman Morrow)
January 4, 2003... After a five-year famine, the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland has awarded fellowships to three well known pharmacists - Dr Terry Maguire, Professor James McElnay and Dr Norman Morrow. All three are graduates of the School of...

Body-builder drugs warning.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Body-builders in Northern Ireland are being warned that a prescription analgesic being widely sold on the black market is counterfeit and potentially dangerous. A recent operation involving the Medicines Inspectorate and the Police Service...

Slimming drugs get licence back.(amfepramone and phentermine )(United Kingdom Medicines Control Agency)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The Medicines Control Agency is reinstating the market authorisations for amfepramone (diethylpropion, Tenuate Dospan) and phentermine (Duromine, Ionamin). The action follows a European Court of First Instance ruling to annul previous EC...

Kava-kava ban gets legal backing this month.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Legislation banning the supply of medicines and food containing the herbal product kava-kava will come into force on January 13. The Medicines for Human Use (Kava-kava) (Prohibition) Order 2002 prohibits the sale, supply or importation of...

Glucosamine content does not match label.(glucosamine content in over-the-counter drugs researched by 'Journal of Rheumatology')(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Glucosamine content in Canadian OTC preparations varies widely from the amount stated on the packaging, according to a study published in the Journal of Rheumatology. The study found that the amount of glucosamine base varied from 41 to...

Are you accessing electronic records? ask researchers.(Angela Alexander, secretary of Oxfordshire Local Pharmaceutical Committee, is working on the National Health Records Infrastructure Project)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Community pharmacists who have access to electronic GP records are needed to help out with a research project. Angela Alexander, secretary of Oxfordshire Local Pharmaceutical Committee, is working on the National Health Records...

Gordon Davies (Chemists) expands.(buys two pharmacies once owned by Graham Morris Ltd.)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... East Midlands-based pharmacy chain Gordon Davies (Chemists) Ltd has acquired two Nottinghamshire pharmacies previously owned by Graham Morris Ltd for an undisclosed sum. The addition of the Newark-on-Trent and Balderton pharmacies as well...

PPRS report to Parliament published.(Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme)(United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The Department of Health and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry have published the sixth report to Parliament on the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme. The report found that despite an improved level of compliance...

Shire sells US OTC portfolio to Purdue Pharma.(Shire Pharmaceuticals Group PLC sells US portfolio to Purdue Pharma LP)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc has sold its US portfolio of over the counter products to Purdue Pharma LP, an associated company, for $72 million (#45m). The portfolio includes Colace, Peri-Colace, Slow Mag and mineral oil. Shire...

Locums offered non-Lloyds work.(Provincial Pharmacy Locum Services and Lloydspharmacy)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... One of the UK's leading locum agencies, Provincial Pharmacy Locum Services, has told Lloydspharmacy that as of January 2, 2003 it will aim to provide locums currently working for the multiple with alternative employment at an hourly rate of #19...

Digital on a budget.(photography kiosk)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... KIS/Photo-Me has launched a new system called Digital Station Lab, which can be used as a stand-alone unit or in conjunction with analogue minilabs or other systems. Images can be taken from all camera cards, CDs, floppy disks, ZIP disks...

New authors of IPMI study.
January 4, 2003... Future editions of the Institute for Pharmacy Management's annual workforce survey will be conducted by MEL Research Ltd following the decision by Gerry Green to relinquish responsibility for the study. MEL already has a track record of...

Pharmacy2Upilot renamed.(ETP consortium renamed as 'e-script')(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Pharmacy2U's ETP consortium has been renamed `e-script'. A spokeswoman for the consortium said that the old name had been misrepresentative as it drew attention to just one of the partners in the consortium. The aim was to get a name...

Clinical effectiveness body is established.(NHS Quality Improvement Scotland established as clinical effectiveness organization)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Scotland's new clinical effectiveness organisation, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, came into being on January 1. The body will have greater powers to inspect and enforce any necessary improvements on NHS boards and trusts, and follows a...

Repeat dispensing fee `not enough' claims contractor.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... A Somerset contractor, who increased the viability of her community pharmacy by offering a repeat prescription service, says the Government's remuneration offer for the repeat dispensing pathfinder sites is not enough. Kathryn Jones of...

Resistance survey funds.(anti-microbial resistance)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The Scottish Executive is to provide #60,000 over the year to support the development of a national surveillance of anti-microbial resistance. The funding will be used to set up a Scottish Microbiology Forum and will finance a pilot study on...

NICE's decision-making examined.(UK National Insitute for Clinical Excellence, guidelines for decision-making in clinical care industry)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The Citizens' Council of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence has published a report looking at the factors NICE should take into account when making decisions about clinical need. In particular, the Council has focused on: *...

Comment from the Editor.(economic forecast)(Editorial)
January 4, 2003... The Prime Minister's warning of a difficult and possibly dangerous time ahead is not the best news to hope for as 2003 starts. As well as the threat of terrorism and a possible attack on Iraq, the wobble in the national economy is worsening....

YOUR VIEWS: They say the devil is in the detail.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... A hospital pharmacist gives his views on the continuing saga over NHS pay As you will no doubt have seen in the newspapers, the Government's pay modernisation plans for the NHS were issued on November 28: pay rises for everyone and the NHS...

Letter: CHI surveys.(Letter to the Editor)
January 4, 2003... Your article about the Commission for Health Improvement survey for pharmacists would benefit from some clarification (C&D December 21/28, 2002, p6). The CHI consulted with a number of pharmacy providers to develop the survey. The survey...

The DoH cannot have its cake and eat it.(UK Department of Health cases with Goldshield, Regent Laboratories, and Norton)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The fur could soon start to fly in the High Court as the Department of Health seeks damages for costs it claims to have incurred during the `category D' fiasco of the late 1990s. The essence of this first case was the claim that an agreement...

Don't hold your breath over what 2003 may bring.(pharmacy service)(Column)
January 4, 2003... Well, that is it for 2002 and a happy new year to you all. So what do I believe 2003 will bring? As usual I look forward to the next 12 months with hope but little expectation as the muddied waters of pharmaceutical progress appear as opaque as...

Pharmacy Channel.(Royal Pharmaceutical Society says Pharmacy Media Company Ltd. can't use title 'pharmacy' in campaigns)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has asked us to point out that it has written to the Pharmacy Media Company over an article in C&D (December 14, 2002, p10). The article stated: "The company has been given special permission by the RPSGB...

Yes, minister, your support would help everyone.(Health minister David Lammy)
January 4, 2003... Health minister David Lammy, right, said he would investigate claims of a funding bias against community pharmacy projects at a meeting of the All Party Pharmacy Group in December. Afterwards Northeast London LPC secretary Hemant Patel, below,...

Alcoholic fails to take second chance.(Bhatt, Vinay Kant)
January 4, 2003... A London pharmacist whose career has been wrecked by a catalogue of drink-related incidents appeared drunk on the rare occasions he turned up for work, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Statutory Committee heard on December 10, 2002. ...

Help with hearing.
January 4, 2003... Customers who have spent Christmas shouting at elderly relatives may persuade them to seek advice about hearing loss. Consultant audiologist Dr Susan Snashall explains how pharmacists can help Hearing loss is a common condition in the...

Echinacea does not treat colds.(according to study results of college students taking the medicine)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Echinacea has been found to make no difference to the length or severity of colds in a small study of American college students. In the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 148 students, an Echinacea combination (E purpurea...

Eye drops and airways risk.('British Medical Journal' says patients using eye drops with topical beta-blocker risk airway obstruction)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Patients using topical beta-blocker eye drops who develop airways obstruction should stop using their drops immediately, according to a study in the BMJ. The population-based cohort study examined whether topical beta- blockers are...

Flu prophylaxis for residential homes.(Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin's instructions on use of Oseltamivir for residential home influenza patients)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) seems to offer additional protection against influenza for elderly people in residential homes who have already been vaccinated. The Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin concludes that although annual vaccination remains...

Lantus daily dose at same time.(Aventis Pharma AG updates dosage for Lantus insulin)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Aventis Pharma has updated the dosage for Lantus (glargine) insulin. The SmPC now says it should be administered once daily at any time, but at the same time each day. For more information: Aventis Pharma Tel: 01732 584000. Copyright:...

Generic duo launched.(drugs introduced from Ratiopharm GmbH)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Ratiopharm has launched generic aciclovir 5 per cent cream (2g) and enalapril maleate and hydrochlorothiazide 20/12.5mg tablets (28s). For more information: see Price List supplement Ratiopharm Tel: 023 9238 6330. Copyright: CMP...

Movicol-Half aids dosing.(Norgine introduces Movicol-Half oral solution powder for constipation treatment)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Norgine has launched Movicol-Half powder for oral solution to provide additional dosage flexibility in the treatment of adults, adolescents and the elderly with constipation. Each sachet should be dissolved in 62.5ml of water. Patients must...

Micardis plus diuretic.(Boehringer Ingelheim Group introduces MicardisPlus tablets for hypertension treatment)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Boehringer Ingelheim has launched MicardisPlus tablets, a combination of telmisartan 40mg or 80mg with hydrochlorothiazide 12.5mg. It is indicated for the treatment of essential hypertension in patients whose blood pressure is not...

Clozaril product summary changes.(from Novartis AG, changes made to side effects, indications, and contraindications)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Novartis has modified the summary of product characteristics for Clozaril (clozapine) tablets. Changes have been made to several sections, including indications, contraindications, and adverse effects. Clozaril is now indicated for the...

Carmen makes waves with style.(Salton Europe introducing electric hair styler)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Salton Europe is introducing a versatile combination electric hair styler in the Carmen range. Carmen Electric Styling Curl and Brush (model 10160) converts from a styling tong for curls and spirals into a hot brush for volume and gentle...

Life is sweet for Canderel users.(Chemist Brokers relaunching Canderel low calorie sweetener)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Canderel is being relaunched with a new look and an improved taste in an effort to widen its appeal to new users. Research shows there are over five million sugar users in the UK looking to reduce their sugar intake, of which over three...

Califig swings into rhythm.(Merck Consumer Health Products television campaign for Califig laxative)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Merck Consumer Health Products is backing Califig with a New Year TV campaign. The commercial features salsa dancers with a catchy voiceover by Lionel Blair. The rhythm of the dancing is designed to reflect the action of the...

TV boost for Bonjela.(television campaign, Reckitt Benckiser PLC)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Bonjela will be supported by a #1 million TV campaign throughout 2003. The first burst of the campaign is on air until the end of January. The brand's `wedding' commercial will be on Channels 4 and 5 nationally, excluding the London area. ...

Weighty campaign.(GR Lane Health Products's weight loss advertising campaign)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... GR Lane Health Products is supporting the Herbaltrim natural weight loss plan with a #130,000 national tabloid press advertising campaign during January and February. The campaign is designed to target people who are looking to lose weight...

Super-Max's shaving solutions.(Super-Max shaving gels being launched by Sterling-Four)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Sterling-Four is launching Super-Max low foam shaving gels with essential oils. The range of five gels has been formulated in conjunction with the Ayoma Spa in California whose Ayurvedic spa treatments are used in spas and health centres...

Something for all the family to chew over.(Bassett's vitamin television advertisements)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Bassett's Soft & Chewy Vitamins are back on TV in a #1 million advertising campaign running until the beginning of February. Targeted at mums, the commercial features illustrations of people of all ages bouncing on a trampoline. It is...

Eumovate raises its voice.(GlaxoSmithKline ad campaign for eczema and dermatitis lotion)(Brief)
January 4, 2003... Copyright: CMP Information Ltd. Eumovate Eczema and Dermatitis Cream (clobetasone butyrate 0.05 per cent) will be supported by a $1 million six week advertising campaign starting on January 13. The `voice' commercial features a working...

Snap up a photo deal.(Polaroid)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Polaroid will run a film promotion for all its Studio Polaroid Instant passport photo operators in January. Retailers will be able to claim #10 back for every purchase of a promotional blue-stickered SUPA value pack of Polaroid instant...

Need a New Year boost?(Wassen International Ltd. promotional offer for Gerimax Ginseng supplements)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Everyone has a different energy threshold and the run up to Christmas can sap our last reserves. The chances are that you are suffering from seasonal overload. To help give C&D subscribers a recharge, Wassen is offering 50 readers the...

No margin left.(for drugstores)
January 4, 2003... The Government has pushed margins for NHS pharmaceutical services to the limit, says Professor Ian Jones Whatever the outcome of PSNC's negotiations on new NHS pharmaceutical services, the existing services will still provide the principal...

Retailing: Profit.(Drugstores)
January 4, 2003... In the first of a two-part series Anne Hutchings provides some practical tips to help pharmacists increase their profits I have the privilege of working with many retail pharmacists, which gives me the opportunity to provide practical...

Mawdsleys - Appointment.(Fleur Donnelly appointed business development manager for Mawdsleys Ltd.)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Mawdsleys has strengthened its hospital team with the appointment of Fleur Donnelly as business development manager. She will be responsible for sales to all hospitals in Mawdsleys' central UK region. She joins from Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen...

CPP - Appointments.(CPP Inc. hires Heidi Wright and Rosalind Grant)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Rosalind Grant and Heidi Wright have been elected to the board of the CPP's Faculty of Prescribing and Medicines Management in the place of Clive Jackson and Peter Burill. Annie Coppel has been elected faculty chairman, and has been co-opted as...

Moss Pharmacy - Appointment.(appoints Vanessa Georgiou to head of human resources)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Moss Pharmacy has appointed Vanessa Georgiou as head of human resources. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Potters Herbal Medicines - Appointment.(Philip Jones appointed production director)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Wigan-based Potters Herbal Medicines has appointed Philip Jones as production director. He began his career as assistant to the production director and returns to Potters after 27 years. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Professor Jones appointed CBE.(Trevor Jones appointed CBE, Ian Carruthers and Archie Kirkwood knighted for UK National Health Service)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Congratulations to pharmacist Professor Trevor Jones, director-general of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, who has been appointed a CBE in the New Year Honours. Congratulations, too, to Ian Carruthers who is knighted...

CPP chair goes for a walk.(Angela Alexander, CPP chairman, is traveling to Costa Rica and raising money for Macmillan Cancer Relief Fund)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... CPP chairman Angela Alexander is taking a few days off this month to take part in the Costa Rica Hiking Challenge, a 10-day trek from a volcano in the central region, through cloud forest, rainforest and mangrove swamp, down to the Pacific...

Monthly draw winner.
January 4, 2003... Hannah Brunt from Pharmacy Plus's head office in Bristol, is a keen amateur painter and plays squash. We hope the bottle of champagne she has won as the most recent winner of the Counterpart monthly draw won't put her off her stroke! She is...

Kids in Need Charity.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Pharmacists Melvin Foreman and Joy Neville have been busy in the run up to Christmas working as committee members for the Essex-based charity Kids in Need. The charity aims to grant the wishes of terminally ill or handicapped children and part...

PPA website hosts drug dictionary.
January 11, 2003... A downloadable version of the Primary Care Drug Dictionary is now available from the Prescription Pricing Authority's website. The dictionary, which currently includes 99 per cent of products prescribed, is now being trialled by some GP and...

Skill mix changes need resources.(pharmacy technician training proposals)(Editorial)
January 11, 2003... The RPSGB has told the Government that any changes that may result from the skill mix proposals will need suitable resources. In a strongly worded opening to its reply to the Department of Health discussion paper, the Society says: "In...

Co-op to pilot checking technicians this year.(United Co-Op Pharmacy Group)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... United Co-op Pharmacy Group is preparing to pilot technician checking later this year, thus responding to the Government's skill mix document Pharmacy Workforce in the new NHS, which was announced at last year's BPC (C&D September 28 and...

`Inclusive' NHS logo for pharmacies.(Scotland's pharmacies asked to promote role in providing NHS services)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... Pharmacies in Scotland have each been sent a window sticker and an A4 card to raise public awareness of community pharmacies' role in providing NHS services. A joint letter was sent out from the Scottish Executive's Department of Health...

Update 2003.
January 11, 2003... Make your New Year's resolution to do some continuing education a profitable one. By registering for C&D's Pharmacy Update before the end of January you will be in with the chance of winning #2,000. Every pharmacist who registers for...

Medicines Waste Awareness Campaign.(is running in Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus and Larne area)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... The South East Antrim Locality Pharmacy Group has launched a Medicines Waste Awareness Campaign in the Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus and Larne area. The Northern Health and Social Services Board is funding the campaign, which runs until the end...

Ensure pharmacist presence.(skill mix proposals should not take pharmacist out of the pharmacy, says group)
January 11, 2003... Changes brought about by the skill mix proposals must not remove the pharmacist from the pharmacy, PSNC has told the Department of Health. "We firmly believe that the community pharmacy service can and should be developed to provide easily...

Report on vet POMs due this week.
January 11, 2003... The Competition Commission's report into the supply of veterinary POMs was due to be submitted to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on Wednesday as C&D went to press. However, the Department of Trade and Industry was unable to...

Ricin poisoning signs.(symptoms of ricin poisonining; potential for bioterrorism)
January 11, 2003... The deputy chief medical officers in England and Scotland have issued information over concerns relating to a bioterrorism threat of ricin poisoning. Further to the incident in north London earlier this week, the advice to health...

DTB says Schering should repay NHS.(Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, Schering Health Care )(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... The Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin and the Consumers' Association are asking Schering Health Care to repay the NHS #200,000, following the withdrawal of its advertising for Yasmin (C&D, December 14, 2002, p7). The #200,000 sum is the...

Launch of automated dispensing system in Llandough.(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... The Welsh Assembly has allocated #500,000 to install the automated system in two other hospitals in Wales: West Wales General Hospital and Glan Clwyd Hospital. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Medical advert alert.(study indicates medical journal advertising not always supported by references)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... Health professionals have been warned to be cautious about the claims of adverts in medical journals, even if they appear to include references to "evidence-based" medicine. Spanish researchers assessed all advertisements for...

LINKScan system upgraded.(AAH Pharmaceuticals debuts new version of handheld ordering system)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... AAH Pharmaceuticals has launched an improved version of its hand-held ordering system, LINKScan. Changes designed to make pharmacy ordering with LINKScan faster and easier include: * a duplicate scanning alert, to inform customers when a...

Gordon Davis.(Correction Notice)
January 11, 2003... Gordon Davis (Chemists) Ltd was incorrectly spelt with an `e' (C&D January 4, p10). The correct spelling is Davis, not Davies. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Industry accused of `inventing' new condition.(drug makers said to have created 'female sexual dysfunction' condition as way to sell drugs)
January 11, 2003... Pharmaceutical manufacturers have been accused of inventing a medical condition (female sexual dysfunction) to create a new market for medicines and increase sales. A leading article in the BMJ (January 4, p 45) voices concern that...

Ian Shepherd moves into IT consultancy role.(is setting up Synapse Consulting)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... The RPSGB' s outgoing head of information systems management, Ian Shepherd, is to move into IT consultancy. Mr Shepherd will partner a colleague in the running of their business once he retires from his job at the Society at the end of...

Queues and unattractive store design a turn-off.(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... Long queues, an unattractive design and product unavailability are the biggest turn-offs for potential customers, according to a report published by market analysts Mintel. More than a third of the 1,058 shoppers questioned said they would...

Illicit prescription payments worth over #48,000 lead to striking off.
January 11, 2003... A disgraced Leeds pharmacist, jailed for cheating the NHS, pocketed at least #48,000 in illicit prescription payments over 16 years, the RPSGB's Statutory Committee was told on December 11, 2002. Pharmacist Bhupinder Singh Bharj, owner of a...

Four times too many angina tablets prescribed.(UK Statutory Committee reviews case involving prescription error)
January 11, 2003... A man had to be hospitalised after a pharmacist dispensed a prescription instructing him to take four times the maximum dose of angina tablets, the Statutory Committee heard on December 12, 2002. The sick man's wife, named only as "Mrs B",...

Comment from the Editor.(UK Department of Health advised to further integrate community pharmacy into training plans)(Editorial)
January 11, 2003... Two more key responses to the skill mix proposals have been published (see p6, 7), suggesting the Government has some serious thinking to do. Surprisingly, it is the RPSGB which has raised the issue of finances, telling the Department of...

PAGB perspective: How will our records be judged?(examines continuing education requirements for pharmacists)(Editorial)
January 11, 2003... Will CPD checks be made relevant to you? asks Sheila Kelly, executive director of PAGB Feeling a bit guilty about neglecting my pharmacy training recently, I made time to watch the Society's video explaining about mandatory continuing...