An interdisciplinary team, led by Professors Rodney JY Ho of the University of Washington (UW) School of Pharmacy, and Ann Collier of the UW School of Medicine, has been working to develop a long-lasting (seven-day) therapy for HIV, and are already making advances into long-term therapies to suppress the HIV virus. In the March issue [...]
A pilot study, recently published in British Medical Journal Open, demonstrates that medicines reconciliation provided by pharmacists can significantly reduce medicine discrepancies and may be associated with reductions in length of hospital stay and readmission. The UK government currently recommends that all patients receive medicines reconciliation (MR) from a member of the pharmacy team within [...]
University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers have developed a magnetic drug implant – the first of its kind in Canada – that could offer an alternative for patients struggling with numerous pills or intravenous injections. The device, a silicone sponge with magnetic carbonyl iron particles wrapped in a round polymer layer, measures just six millimetres [...]
Best practice standards for the management of medicines shortages in secondary care in Scotland have been jointly developed by NHS Scotland and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in Scotland. The standards provide advice to NHS hospitals in managing medicines shortages at local level to minimise any risks to patients through delays to treatment. It outlines [...]
Bernard Naughton and Dr David Brindley from Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and Medical Sciences Division have discussed the problems of identifying fake, substandard, and expired medicines. They explained, 'Pharmaceuticals are critical to our society, supporting patient health and an innovative industrial sector. Research and development (R&D) by leading pharmaceutical companies totals hundreds of billions [...]
Modafinil, a drug used to treat narcolepsy – excessive daytime sleepiness – can improve memory in patients recovering from depression, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. The findings, published in the journal, Biological Psychiatry: CNNI, result from a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study and offer hope of a treatment for some of the [...]
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Trulance (plecanatide) for the treatment of Chronic Idiopathic Constipation (CIC) in adult patients. ‘No one medication works for all patients suffering from chronic gastrointestinal disorders,’ explained Julie Beitz, MD, Director of the Office of Drug Evaluation III in the FDA’s Centre for Drug Evaluation and Research. [...]
Revolutionary barcode technology that is currently being trialled by the NHS in England is already making significant improvements within the care home industry. Launched in 2015, Well Careplus’ Well Pad device uses a unique barcode system to give the correct medicine to the correct resident at over 170 care homes across the country. The Well [...]
The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) recently installed a smart pharmacy, with the first robot in the Middle East for dispensing and prescribing medication in Rashid Hospital. The robot can store up to 35,000 medicines and dispense around 12 prescriptions in less than one minute. The robot dispenses the prescribed medication with a click of a [...]
