Boots hit by mass homeopathy 'overdose'

There is mention of a "sympathy protest" in Canada. Has anyone heard if this has happened?

From the Telegraph (UK):
The protesters will drink large quantities of homeopathic fluids to illustrate their claim that the potions are too diluted to have any impact on the body.

Homeopathy has grown from an obscure alternative remedy to become a multi-million pound industry in the UK, with Prince Charles among its high-profile advocates.

But critics say there is little scientific backing for its claims to ease conditions including asthma, migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis and depression.

Campaigners have already lobbied for the NHS to reduce its £4 million annual spend on homeopathic remedies and are now targeting Boots for profiting from what they claim is an "unscientific and absurd pseudoscience".

The Boots protests planned for later this month have been organised by campaign called 10:23, which grew out of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, a group of rationalist thinkers.

They will take place on high streets in Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow, Birmingham, Southampton and London, with sympathy protests in Australia, Canada and the United States. ...more

NHS faces 'potentially serious problems' from wrong prescriptions on the NHS

From the Telegraph (UK):
Junior doctors on average fill out five or six prescription forms during their whole time in medical school only to have to complete dozens on their first day on the wards.

The inadequate preparation helps contribute to almost one in 10 prescriptions containing errors that could harm patients, it was said.

Now the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) is calling on the doctors to take an exam called the National Prescribing Assessment before being qualified.

They also want a "prescribing simulator" to be introduced to the curriculum so that medics are better prepared when they start in hospitals.

Professor Simon Maxwell, chairman of the BPS, said: "Everybody thinks that the system should and can be overhauled.

"We would not accept this kind of error rate in other industries such as aviation. It is a recipe for problems." ...more

Nurses and pharmacists to be given off-label prescribing rights

From Pulse (UK):
Exclusive: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is planning a controversial change in the law to allow nurses and pharmacists to prescribe off-label treatments, in a move that has split prescribing experts.

The UK drug regulator says it expects regulations to change by the end of the year, but critics say the move could expose patients to potentially dangerous treatments.

It is the latest in a series of developments to loosen the rules surrounding non-medical prescribing, coming just weeks after Pulse revealed proposals to extend prescribing rights to physiotherapists, dieticians and chiropodists.

The MHRA now says it wants to ‘regularise’ restrictions on prescribers and allow prescribing nurses and pharmacists the same freedoms as doctors.

Such a change will require the Home Office and the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs to alter Misuse of Drugs Regulations - but the Government has already accepted the recommendations, made by the MHRA’s Commission on Human Medicines. ...more

Swine flu fears prompt run on UK pharmacies

From CNN.com:
Pharmacies in England are reporting a run on supplies like surgical masks, thermometers and anti-bacterial gels by customers concerned about swine flu amid a surge in the number of people infected by the virus.

In some cases, drug stores in England say they are out of the items and may not get more in for weeks or months.

"People are very panicked," said a pharmacy assistant at Zafash Pharmacy in southwest London. "That's why everyone is running for thermometers, surgical masks, and anti-bacterial gels."

The UK's Department of Health estimated this week that there were around 100,000 new cases of swine flu in England in the week ending July 17 -- nearly double the number of cases for the previous seven days. ...more

Miracle diet pill alli sold to slim women by chemists

From the Times (UK):
High street chemists are selling a new over-the-counter diet pill to women who do not have weight problems, a report has claimed.

During an investigation into the fat-busting drug alli, Which?, the consumer magazine, found that half of independent pharmacies approved the sale to researchers who did not need it.

Trials have showed that adding alli to a reduced-calorie, lower-fat diet can help people to lose 50 per cent more fat than by dieting alone. Alli aids weight loss by blocking absorption of fat from food into the body. However, licensing conditions for the tablets, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, stipulate the drug should only be sold to overweight people with a body mass index (BMI) of 28 or above.

Two weeks after the pill went on sale in May in chemists’ shops, Which? sent seven undercover researchers to 32 outlets, including small chains and retailers such as Boots and Lloyds. ...more

High-tech pharmacist of the future based in Lindley

I thought this was an interesting approach to pharmaceutical manufacturing that isn't occurring in Canada, at least not yet.

From the Huddersfield (UK) Examiner:
Medicines used in Huddersfield Royal Infirmary now come from ... Lindley!

The new £8m pharmacy at Acre Mill is now producing almost half a million tablets each year.

And it is capable of manufacturing medicines for individual patients or in large-scale batches.

The pharmacy is now making all the medicines needed in both Calderdale Royal Hospital and HRI.

They are also supplying medicines to hospitals, pharmacists and chemists throughout Yorkshire.
...more

Community pharmacist admits fatal medicine mistake

From Management in Practice:
A pharmacist who had worked a 10-hour shift without a break wept in court when it heard an elderly woman collapsed and later died after she gave her the wrong drugs.

The daughter of 72-year-old cancer sufferer Carmel Sheller was given a heart rate reducing drug by Elizabeth Lee, 30, who was working on the busy Tesco counter in Dedworth Road, Windsor.

She was in fact supposed to be collecting the steroid prednisolone for her mother who had been prescribed the drug to treat her wheezing and lung inflammation, the Old Bailey heard.

Ms Lee was working as a locum and was in sole charge of the counter when she made the mistake "under pressure" as two other pharmacists were both on maternity leave. The court heard the mother of two had been working from 9am to 7pm.

After pleading guilty to supplying medicine with a misleading label on the package Ms Lee was given a suspended sentence of three months under a breach of the Medicines Act 1968 - an offence carrying a maximum two-year jail sentence. ...more

Fury as High Street pharmacy sells morning-after pill online in bulk

From the Daily Mail (UK):
Women can bulk buy the morning-after pill over the internet from today - but critics claim it will promote promiscuity and encourage risky sex.

Visitors to Lloyds Pharmacy's online store will be able to buy up to three emergency contraceptive tablets without seeing a doctor or pharmacist.

The company says the move will allow women to stockpile the drug at home to use when their normal contraception fails, or after they have had unplanned and unprotected sex.

It insists it will do 'everything it can' to ensure the drug is not sold to girls under 18, but can only ask customers to promise not to pass the pills on to a friend or family member.

Campaigners said the easy availability of emergency contraception would encourage women to have unprotected sex, safe in the knowledge that they could pop a pill from their bathroom cabinet the next day. ...more

Chemists to provide obesity pill

From BBC News:
The obesity pill, orlistat, has been licensed to be sold over-the-counter at chemists in the EU.

The pill, which works by blocking the absorption of fat in the body, will be available at a lower dose than doctors generally prescribe.

It is aimed at adults with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 28 or more.

One expert said it may help some people with weight loss but they would have to take a conscious decision to eat less fatty foods.

The Royal College of GPs said everyone who wanted the pill should go to their GP for advice because some of them would have treatable causes for their obesity - and all of them would have risk factors for other illnesses which would need to be discussed.

GlaxoSmithKline, who make the pill known commercially as alli, say their clinical trials show that adding orlistat to a reduced calorie, lower fat diet, can help people lose 50% more weight than dieting alone.

But if they persist in eating fat, they will experience some nasty side effects such as diarrhoea and gas problems. ...more

Pill to be given out by chemists

From BBC News:
A pilot scheme allowing pharmacists to give women the contraceptive pill without a prescription has been given the go-ahead for next year.

Women and girls aged over 16 will be able to get the pill at two London primary care trusts, Southwark and Lewisham, Pulse magazine says.

If the pilots are successful, the pill could become available over the counter like the morning after pill.

Officials say this might help reduce the UK's high teen pregnancies.

Although the teenage pregnancy rate in Britain is falling in many areas, it remains the highest in Western Europe.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "We want to improve women's access to contraception and help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies without undermining patient safety. ...more

Change to GP dispensing opposed

This is more evidence that there are turf wars between pharmacists and physicians throughout the world. The battles involve different topics: pharmacist prescribing in Canada has been covered here before. The article below talks about physician dispensing in the U.K.

From BBC News:
Patients are opposed to any plans to reduce the ability of rural GPs in England to provide drugs directly to their patients, a poll suggests.

There are fears that plans laid out in a government White Paper will threaten the future of GP dispensaries.

The Dispensing Doctors Association surveyed more than 6,000 patients who currently get their drugs this way.

They found 95% would find it difficult or inconvenient if their surgery stopped dispensing.

The Pharmacy White Paper - designed to increase the role chemists play in providing care for patients - includes a number of options to reform the existing rules which govern dispensing by doctors.

Currently, patients who live more than a mile from a chemist can choose to have their medicines dispensed by their GP. ...more

National Pharmacy Association Insurance Covers Pharmacists For Flu Vaccinations, UK

From Medical News Today:
NPA Insurance has confirmed that individual pharmacists who have taken out the £99 NPA Insurance policy or pharmacy owners who are NPA members, providing a flu vaccination service, are indemnified.

Glyn Walduck, Head of NPA Insurance said: "It has been highlighted to us that some insurance providers are charging an additional premium for pharmacists wishing to carry out flu vaccinations. NPA Insurance would like to confirm that NPA members are covered by their NPA Insurance policy to provide a flu vaccination service. That cover also extends to any pharmacist who is employed or engaged (locum) by a member to provide the service so long as the pharmacist has been trained and approved. Locum pharmacists who have the £99 NPA Insurance policy will also be covered." ...more

Unused drugs costing NHS millions

From BBC News:
As much as £1 worth of every £20 spent on prescription drugs is never used by patients, according to the NHS.

A Scottish GP has called for a recycling scheme to stop hundreds of millions of pounds worth of unused drugs going to waste.

Some unused drugs are returned to pharmacists and incinerated, others are just binned by patients.

Dr James Douglas wants unopened medicines to be offered to patients who need them for free.

Drugs are often thrown away because clinicians over-prescribe or because patients fail to take their medicines. ...more

Pharmacists give wrong advice to almost half of customers, watchdog claims

From the Telegraph (UK):
An undercover investigation has found that many pharmacies – especially independent outlets – are relying on poorly-trained staff and failing to give the correct information to customers.

Which?, the consumer watchdog, sent investigators to visit 101 pharmacies across the UK and got unsatisfactory advice on a third of visits, according to an expert panel.

Independent pharmacies fared particularly poorly, giving unsatisfactory advice on around half – 48 per cent – of visits compared to 38 per cent of national and regional chains and 26 per cent of the biggest players and supermarkets.

The outlets failed to give the correct advice to the mystery shopper, who pretended to have traveller's diarrhoea in 14 out of the 32 visits. They failed to ask whether the patient had been abroad or for how long they had been suffering.

In many cases the advice was given by a sales assistant who failed to consult the qualified pharmacist, a decision which "astounded" the expert panel.

Which? magazine editor Neil Fowler said: "People are increasingly turning to pharmacies for the sort of advice they might have gone to their GP for in the past, but we're concerned that in some cases they're getting advice that is unsuitable and potentially unsafe. ...more

Pharmacist's jars worth thousands of pounds are discovered in a cupboard

From the Daily Mail (UK):
A pharmacist who spent decades devoting her life to her business never realised she had a ready-made fortune on her shelves - her mixing jars.

Unbeknown to Ann Seedhouse, the coarse-looking earthenware pots that held her elderflower and red poppy were more than three centuries old and worth thousands of pounds.

Friends described Miss Seedhouse, who never married and channelled all of her efforts into her work, as a businesswoman ahead of her time.

But now it has emerged her meticulous attitude to achieving success overlooked two little things - the jars.

They sat amid the jumble of dozens of other containers in her traditional shop in Brownhills, Staffs, until she finally retired in the 1970s.

After that they ended up in a cupboard at her home, where they were finally uncovered by astonished experts during a clearance of her estate. ...more

Chlamydia drug over-the-counter

From BBC News:
For the first time an antibiotic for chlamydia is to be made available from pharmacists, without a prescription.

People aged over 16 will be able to buy Clamelle after testing positive for the infection, or having sex with someone who tests positive.

The medicines regulator has decided the drug will be made available over-the-counter later this year.

If untreated, chlamydia can cause serious problems, including infertility and possibly cancer in later life.

Experts are alarmed that rates of infection have soared in recent years, particularly among the young.

The drug, also called azithromycin, will still be available via the traditional route - either from a GP or a genito-urinary medicine clinic. ...more

Pharmacists urged to 'tell the truth' about homeopathic remedies

From the Guardian (UK):
Britain's leading pharmacists' organisation is being urged to crack down on high street chemists that sell homeopathic remedies, amid accusations that they are in breach of their own ethical guidelines.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has been asked to take action following allegations that pharmacists are failing to give customers proper information about the shortcomings of homeopathic treatments before they buy them.

In an open letter to the society, Edzard Ernst, the country's only professor of complementary medicine, criticises high street pharmacists for selling homeopathic remedies without informing customers that they contain no biologically active agents and are no more effective than sugar pills.

The ethical code states that pharmacists who sell homeopathic remedies, herbal medicines or other complementary therapies, "must assist patients in making informed decisions" by providing them with "necessary and relevant information".

According to the letter, "customers are frequently misinformed ... by promotional material available in UK pharmacies and verbal advice given by pharmacists. Thus pharmacists breach their own mandatory ethical code on a daily basis." ...more

Boots accused of selling quack medicines

From the Guardian (UK):
Boots, the high street chemist, is becoming the country's largest seller of quack medicine, according to Britain's leading scientific expert on alternative therapies.

Talking at the Hay literary festival today, Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University, is to criticise the company for selling alternative medicines, in particular more than 50 homeopathic remedies, which are shown by clinical trials to be no more effective than sugar pills.

Boots, which has 1,500 stores across the UK, stocks 55 homeopathic therapies, 34 of which are sold under the company's own brand.

Ernst accuses the company of breaching ethical guidelines drawn up by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, by failing to tell customers that its homeopathic medicines contain no active ingredients and are ineffective in clinical trials.

"The population at large trusts Boots more than any other pharmacy, but when you look behind the smokescreen, when it comes to alternative medicines, that trust is not justified. You can buy a lot of rubbish, with covert advertising stating things that are overtly wrong. People are spending their money on stuff that doesn't work," he said. "Boots seems to be fast becoming the biggest seller of quack remedies in UK high streets." ...more

UK pharmacists' role to expand

From the Irish Medical Times:
UK proposals mean that patients could be treated for minor ailments in their local pharmacies and could even be screened there for sexually-transmitted diseases.

Pharmacists look set to have an increased role in patient care in England, as the UK Government has announced plans to extend the role of pharmacies there in dealing with minor illnesses. It plans to allow pharmacists to prescribe for such conditions, affording the patient more convenience and what might often amount to faster treatment.
Click here

A government White Paper – ‘Building on Strengths, Delivering the Future’ — details how pharmacists will complement the work of GPs in promoting health, preventing sickness and providing care for patients that is “more personal and responsive to individual needs”.

UK Health Minister Ben Bradshaw stressed that the proposals are not about pharmacists taking over the work of GPs: “It’s about complementing them, taking pressure off GPs and enabling them to spend more time with those patients who really need it.” ...more

The pharmacist will see you now

From the Los Angeles Times:
Twice a week, Stephen Inns sees patients with high blood pressure at his office in a medical practice in southern England. Usually he conducts a few quick tests, asks them how they're doing and adjusts their medicines if necessary.

Inns isn't a doctor; he's a pharmacist.

He is one of fewer than 100 pharmacists across Britain recently given permission to prescribe drugs for patients and provide basic care, without relying on a doctor. The move is part of Britain's attempt to expand its healthcare system by allowing medical professionals such as nurses and pharmacists to treat patients.

Though many countries are slowly loosening the rules on non-doctors giving out medicines, none has given pharmacists as much power as Britain has in its effort to increase services and cut costs in a financially overburdened health system.

In 2006, Britain expanded the powers of pharmacists to treat patients once they took a training course. Though the number of prescribing healthcare professionals other than doctors remains small, their ranks are growing -- and the government hopes they will someday become the norm. ...more