With the flu season and the H1N1 virus looming, pharmacists are increasingly being called on to take a more active role in public health, from immunizations to disaster planning and management. ASHPs new book, Pharmacy in Public Health Basics and Beyond, provides pharmacists and other health care practitioners with critical information theyll need to play [...]

National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) President and Chief Executive Officer Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE issued the following statement following the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruling on September 3, 2009, upholding the reduction of average wholesale prices (AWP)
“For three years, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and [...]

The NPA is encouraging all prereg tutors to book their prereg pharmacists on to the NPA programme as soon as possible to avoid disappointment due to the limited number of places remaining. The programme commences in October 2009 and candidates have a choice of 3 study venues to choose from Birmingham, St Albans and Wakefield.
Sabina [...]

Researchers with Vanderbilt University Medical Centers Department of Preventive Medicine have completed a large epidemiologic study to assess United States usage trends for antibiotic prescriptions. The study, which examined antibiotic prescription data from 1995 through 2006 to assess whether initiatives that began in the mid1990s to curb antibiotic use have had a positive impact on [...]

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society welcomed the decision by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency that medicines containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine should retain their status as pharmacy (P) medicines.
President Steve Churton said “We are delighted at the MHRAs decision to keep cold and flu remedies containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as pharmacy (P) medicines.
“The [...]

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has published its fourth Pharmacy Workforce Census, reflecting the working patterns of pharmacists registered in August 2008. The reports findings reveal changes in workforce patterns since the last census in 2005, together with new and emerging trends in the workforce. Census forms were sent out to all pharmacists [...]

Martin Simon Hickman, a 49yearold unlicensed and counterfeit medicines dealer, was sentenced to two years imprisonment at the Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to six counts of selling and supplying fake and unlicensed medicines, and money laundering to the sum of £1.4m.
Hickman operated businesses including an illegal online pharmacy to sell unlicensed and [...]

Sequel Systems says the Electronic Prescribe (EPrescribe) program, in which paperbased health records would be converted to electronic health records (EHRs), would be beneficial to hospitalbased and managed services organizations. This not only reduces medical errors made in the reading of written prescriptions which results in increased liability but also offers financial incentives [...]

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britains Council is pressing the government for an urgent change in legislation to decriminalise dispensing errors.
Under the Medicines Act 1968, pharmacists automatically commit a criminal offence each time they make a dispensing error or a labelling error and the Council has set out to champion the case [...]