The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has launched a consultation on the reclassification of codeine linctus to a prescription-only
medicine after considering multiple Yellow Card reports for its opioid effects, rather than for its intended use as a cough suppressant.
This medication is currently licensed as a pharmacy medicine, which means that it is available to purchase over the counter in pharmacies. If reclassified as a
prescription-only medicine, all strengths of codeine linctus will only be available upon presentation of a prescription.
Dr Alison Cave, MHRA Chief Safety Officer, said: "Codeine linctus is an effective medicine, but as it is an opioid, its misuse and abuse can have major health
consequences.
Every response received will help us to develop a broader view on whether codeine linctus should be restricted to prescription-only status.
We want to hear from members of the public, health professionals and others who would be affected by this potential change so we can make a properly considered
decision for the benefit of patients, carers, and healthcare professionals across the UK.
Several medium-sized pharmacy chains and multiples in Scotland are increasing in size by purchasing numerous LloydsPharmacy sites that were closed last month.
The Pharmacists Defence Association (PDA) Regional Committees met to dwell on the issues faced by the community pharmacists across the UK. The PDA's Scottish
regional committee highlighted the impact of Lloyds Pharmacy's closure in their third committee meeting of 2023.
It said: "Davidsons who have purchased various businesses in Tayside. Rowlands has purchased 30 branches across central Scotland and the PDA has been in touch
with members affected. These members will be supported to ensure that they are properly subject to a TUPE transfer (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment)
as they should be when a business changes ownership."
Most discussion amongst the Scottish Regional Committee members was around community pharmacy. Reports suggest that negotiations between the Scottish government
and the pharmacy owners' body, Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) have broken down. As the independent voice of the frontline employed and locum pharmacists that
deliver the contract, the PDA wants to see an agreement found for the benefit of patients, taxpayers, and health professionals.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's (MHRA) Criminal Enforcement Unit (CEU) has seized a quantity of suspected unlicensed medical
products including unlicensed versions of Botox, numbing agents and dermal fillers in Bolton, Greater Manchester.
Officers from the MHRA and Greater Manchester Police conducted a raid across nine addresses in Bolton, Westhoughton and Leigh in the early hours of Thursday
13 July 2023, where two women and a man were arrested.
Andy Morling, MHRA Deputy Director of Criminal Enforcement said: "Medicines like these are powerful and dangerous in the wrong hands, potentially leading to
serious adverse health consequences. The criminals trading in these products are not only breaking the law, they also have no regard for your safety.
It is illegal to advertise, sell or supply medicines such as these without the appropriate authorisation. If you see these products, or any other powerful
medicines, being sold on social media or elsewhere online, think. It's unlikely to be legitimate. You can help the MHRA take action by reporting concerns
to us through our Yellow Card scheme.
Nuffield Trust and The King's Fund are seeking feedback from community pharmacy on their proposals for the future of community pharmacy and they are seeking
feedback from community pharmacy stakeholders.
The online survey is the latest opportunity for pharmacy owners, LPCs and others in the sector to engage with the project to develop a Vision for Community Pharmacy.
Nuffield Trust and The King's Fund want to hear their views on their proposals, ahead of the publication of the final report later this year. The vision is
critically important, as it will be used to develop the future strategy for the sector and lay the groundwork for the next Community Pharmacy Contractual
Framework (CPCF) negotiations.
The survey is asking for thoughts on key aspects of the vision and its recommendations. The vision has been developed by Nuffield Trust and The King's Fund
following an extensive programme of research, interviews and meetings of the vision Steering Group, Advisory Panel, and Working Groups, all of which have
contractors, LPCs and other representatives of the sector at their heart.
The vision project team are looking forward to hearing views from across the sector on their proposals and what will need to happen to make them a reality.
Following Community Pharmacy England's Parliamentary drop-in event on medicines supply issues last week, several MPs have since raised questions to the Health
Secretary during a Health Questions session on July 18th.
According to CPE, MPs from all Parties displayed great engagement with the current pressures facing community pharmacies, particularly regarding medicines supply
issues.
During last week's event, Mike Amesbury, the MP for Weaver Vale, was present and directed a question to the Health Secretary: "Eighteen community pharmacists in my
constituency are reporting challenges with medicine supplies. What further actions will the Minister take to address and resolve this situation effectively?"
In response, Health Secretary Steve Barclay MP stated, "We have a dedicated team in the Department that focuses on medical supplies, which are an ongoing concern.
Challenges in this area are a routine part of our business."
The Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has initiated a recall of three batches of Quantum Pharmaceutical's Diltiazem HCl 2% Cream, which is an
unlicensed medicine. MHRA issued a precautionary recall of the cream due to a change in the product's appearance that affected its thickness.
Pharmacists are instructed to halt supply, quarantine remaining stock, and contact Quantum Pharmaceutical to return affected batches M1402497, M1402574, and M1402680.
Patients using this product may encounter application issues with the cream due to its consistency. However, MHRA said that this has not impacted the product's
effectiveness or posed any risk to patient safety.
The MHRA also reported that medac GmbH (t/a medac Pharma LLP) is conducting a recall of two batches of Sodiofolin 50 mg/ml solution for injection/infusion
(400mg/8ml vial) with batch numbers G220393B and G220393C. This class 2 medicines recall is a result of particles detected during long-term stability tests.
Computer Science
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Computer hardware
Computer hardware is the physical components that make up a computer system. It includes everything from the central processing unit (CPU) to the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Understanding the different types of hardware and how they work together is essential for anyone who works with computers. In this article, we will explore the various components of computer hardware, including internal and external components, and the peripherals that connect to them. We will also discuss the importance of hardware maintenance, the latest advancements in computer technology, and factors to consider when choosing the right hardware for your needs. Whether you are a computer technician, a gamer, or simply someone who uses a computer for everyday tasks, this article will help you better understand the world of computer hardware.
Introduction to Computer Hardware
Computer hardware refers to the physical components that make up a computer system. It includes everything from the processor and memory to input/output devices such as the keyboard and monitor. In this article, we will explore the different types of computer hardware and their functions.
What is Computer Hardware
Computer hardware refers to the physical components of a computer system. It includes all the components that can be touched, seen, and used to interact with a computer, such as the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Hardware is different from computer software, which refers to the programs and applications that run on a computer system.
History of Computer Hardware
The history of computer hardware dates back to the 1820s when Charles Babbage, an English mathematician, and inventor, designed the first analytical engine, which was considered to be the first mechanical computer. With time, more complex electronic computers were developed, including the first Intel microprocessor in 1971. Since then, computer hardware has continued to evolve, becoming
Pharmacy professionals to be included as key stakeholders in the implementation, delivery and evaluation of a wide range of genomic services, said the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).
RPS's statement has been developed in collaboration with pharmacy organisations who have co-badged the report, such as the British Oncology Pharmacy Association,
the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association, Association of Pharmacy Technicians and the College of Mental Health Pharmacy.
It looks at current and future roles for pharmacy professionals in genomic medicine across many aspects of practice such as person-centred care and collaboration,
professional practice, education, leadership, management and research.
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the UK have already established roles in the application of genomic medicine in some areas of practice, such as antimicrobial
stewardship and infectious diseases, and the management of certain genetic conditions, such as cystic fibrosis.
The society believes, the current role of pharmacy professionals in genomics can be expanded upon in the future to both lead and support many relevant aspects of
genomic implementation. These are described across all healthcare sectors, within the Genome UK strategy produced by the UK Government, and within the implementation
plans published in England, Scotland and Wales.
Lead for Pharmacogenomics at RPS Sophie Harding said: "Pharmacy professionals are the gatekeepers of medication safety and efficacy across all areas of healthcare.
They are skilled at interpreting complex scientific data and use evidence-based medicine to maximise the benefits of treatments for patients, whilst supporting
shared decision-making with patients and the multidisciplinary team.
The Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) has announced the appointment of six specialists to scrutinise the government's progress made on its commitments
to pharmacy services in England on Wednesday (26 April).
"They will work alongside the core members of the Expert Panel to produce a report evaluating Government progress across nine of the Government's own commitments
across the four areas. A CQC-style rating from "inadequate" to "outstanding" will be awarded against each specific pledge with a final overall rating given," said
DHSC.
Professor Dame Jane Dacre, Chair of the Expert Panel, said: "The role of pharmacy in delivering care whether in hospital, the community or primary care has never
been more important.
"The Government has made a number of commitments aimed at improving pharmacy services and we'll be looking at the progress to achieve these targets.
"In the process of our evaluation we'll be hearing from stakeholders from across the industry, including the pharmacy workforce and NHS and independent providers
of pharmacy services. We'll be considering pledges covering frontline services as well as the education and training of the workforce."
National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive, Mark Lyonette, is one of six panel members with specialist expertise in pharmacy. They will work alongside five
standing members who are all renowned healthcare policy experts and professionals. Professor Dame Jane Dacre will chair.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory (MHRA) and Genomics England to launch a brand-new genetic research resource, known as a 'biobank' on Thursday
(June 01) to tackle the issue of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs).
Biobank will help to better understand how a patient's genetic makeup can impact the safety of their medicines.
"The Yellow Card biobank, which will contain genetic data and patient samples, will operate alongside the MHRA's Yellow Card reporting site for suspected side
effects and adverse incidents involving medicines and medical devices," said MHRA.
The biobank pilot will officially begin on 1 June 2023 with participant recruitment commencing later this year, on 1 September. The sequencing of participants'
genetic material will begin in Spring 2024, with initial research findings from the pilot due to be published in 2025. Genomics England will be supporting the
MHRA with sequencing and storage of genetic material through use of their well-established and secure infrastructure.
Boots UK is set to start recruiting for a new superintendent pharmacist as Marc Donovan moved into a new role.
The company announced the appointment of Anne Higgins as the new pharmacy director for Boots UK. A Boots veteran for 25 years, she has been in the role of director
for stores for more than two years since starting her journey as a pre-register pharmacist in July 1997.
Marc Donovan will be moving into the new role of director of healthcare development and public affairs for Boots. Earlier this year Donovan was appointed the Order
of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to pharmacy" in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.
Donovan and Higgins will be reporting to Jamie Kerruish, the director of healthcare at Boots UK.
A Boots spokesperson told Pharmacy Business: "We will be recruiting for a new superintendent pharmacist and once this appointment is made, Marc will hand over his
superintendent responsibilities"
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has welcomed the Chancellor's commitment to increase the NHS budget, hoping that 'community pharmacies benefit from
this investment'.
The association is urging the government to address years of underfunding so that community pharmacies can avoid staff lay-offs to cover the increasing costs of the
national living wage.
The government's uplift of the National Living Wage was confirmed in its latest budget announcement to tackle the cost of living crisis. The NHS budget will also be
increased in each of the next two years by £3.3bn.
A recent NPA commissioned report by Professor David Taylor from University College London predicted that wage inflation and other cost pressures could combine with
funding cuts to lead to cut-backs and pharmacy closures.
The number of people suffering from addiction is at an all time high, with more people seeking treatment across the USA due to the fentanyl crisis, but new
studies have shown that addiction drugs may not only be able to aid those suffering from the deadly disease, but also aid people suffering from long COVID.
While there has long been research underway to find a cure for the likes of alcoholism and drug addiction, it turns out naltrexone, a drug used in the addiction
treatment space, is helping people who have been suffering from headaches, seizures and fatigue as a result of long COVID.
According to Dr. Paul Valbuena at The River Source, an Arizona drug rehab, naltrexone is typically used by rehab centers and prescribed to patients suffering from
addiction to reduce cravings and the feeling of euphoria associated with substance use disorder, giving patients clarity and focus to concentrate on recovery.
Thanks to a recent report, that has also been revealed to be the case for those suffering with long COVID too, with Lauren Nichols, a long COVID sufferer from Chicago
being prescribed the drug by her doctor.
She found that the drug helped quell her seizures and headaches, alowing her to think clearly and get on with her life as normal. It's been a similar story for other
patients too, and has marked a major breakthrough in the bid to help those who are still suffering in the aftermath of the pandemic.
The life cycle management company, Pharmanovia, has appointed Nivedita Valentine as associate vice president of Product Innovation.
Ms Valentine will oversee the company's product innovation operations and decision-making as Pharmanovia continues to focus efforts on both, identifying new
prospects to enhance lifecycle management of its brands through incremental innovation. She will report to interim chief scientific officer Stephen Deacon and
help bridge unmet patient needs with the help of novel therapies, originating both from in-house development and through partnerships.
Ms Valentine currently holds positions on the value-added medicines committee within Medicines for Europe and the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium
(IRDiRC) Task Force on Drug Repurposing Guidebook.
Pharmanovia CEO Dr James Burt commented: "Digitalisation and utilising the latest technological innovation are notable areas of acceleration within the pharma
industry and Nivedita's appointment will ensure iconic brands will continue to be improved, supported, and used sustainably.
Digital transformation is sweeping across the healthcare landscape. Fuelled by ambitious government policy, exciting innovation and huge injections of funding,
it's hard for anyone in the sector not to catch a dose of digitisation fever.
But digitisation is not a universal tonic, and it certainly isn't always a 'good thing'. In fact, there's a real danger to digitising healthcare. Such a fundamental
change to the very nature of care delivery is an inevitably high-risk process: sometimes things or people get forgotten, vital processes stall, or new systems fail
to replicate the strengths of those they replace. Take, for instance, the digitisation of pharmacies.
Over recent years, the public's use of online-only pharmacies have boomed: in March it was reported that the number of items dispensed from distance-selling
pharmacies in England, UK quadrupled between 2016 and 2021.
These online providers offer an attractively convenient way for patients to receive their medicines; replacing a trip to a high street pharmacy with a package
delivered straight to their door. On the surface, this digital solution seems perfect not only for young patients with busy schedules, but also for older patients
or for those with restricted mobility who may struggle with in-person collection.
Pharmacists working in Northern Ireland think the retention fees are too high, and most would prefer to pay in instalments, if that option is available, amid
the increased living costs, a new survey has found.
97 per cent of the respondents to the survey, conducted by the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) of its Northern Irish members, felt the fees were too high. Four
in five said they would opt to pay in instalments if this option were available to them in light of the challenges of significant one-off payments.
On average, the fees accounted for 23 per cent of a pharmacist's take-home pay for one month, and 98 per cent did not see any value added to their professional
standing for the sum, according to the survey.
The PDA said the respondents also reported feeling disadvantaged among their colleagues in terms of how fees are collected, with many also wondering why the
registration fee was not offset for those on maternity leave or working reduced or flexible hours.
The Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) provide an opportunity to break the silo mentality in the health and care sector, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chair
Andrew Lane told MPs.
While giving evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee on 6 December about the effectiveness of ICSs, Lane also poured cold water on newspaper reports
that community pharmacists will be drafted in to break the NHS strike, as he reiterated the call for a "properly costed and funded environment."
"We've been in different silos historically and ICSs are an opportunity to pull all systems together for the benefit of patients," he told committee members.
Lane pointed to dementia-trained pharmacy delivery drivers and the Discharge Medicines Service as instances where the influence of community pharmacy already
stretches beyond primary care into hospitals and social care.
"We've seen pharmacists prescribe and get UTIs off doctors' desks, so we are starting to release capacity [in the system] and we're on that clinical journey.
We welcome that, but it has to be with the right level of funding," he added.
The first big breakthrough in 30 years of Alzheimer's research is providing momentum for clinical trials of "cocktail" treatments targeting the two hallmark
proteins associated with the mind-robbing disease, according to interviews with researchers and pharmaceutical executives.
Drugmakers Eisai and Biogen reported in September that their therapy lecanemab could slow progress of the disease by 27% over 18 months compared with a placebo.
The finding validates the theory that clearing the amyloid protein that forms clumps in the brains of Alzheimer's patients could slow or halt the disease and has
strengthened the support from some scientists for simultaneously targeting another notorious protein linked to Alzheimer's: tau.
Eisai and Biogen are scheduled to present full data from their lecanemab study on Tuesday at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease conference in San Francisco.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to make a decision by early January on the companies' application for accelerated approval.
If approved on an accelerated basis, the companies said they would immediately apply for full U.S. regulatory approval which could help secure Medicare coverage.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee announced last week that it is in discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS
England about relieving capacity pressures, such as a relaxation of pharmacy opening hours requirements.
PSNC is also scheduling webinars to talk with contactors about the steps they might be willing to take in future, to cut costs, should emergency financial relief
fail to materialise.
The pharmacy regulator reported that many of its members felt that it was no longer tenable for pharmacies to keep offering all of the free and non-core services to
patients that they would like to, and that all contractors should consider what steps they could take to try to safeguard their businesses and their core services
for patients.
PSNC is also keen to talk to contractors about their current situation and the steps they might be willing to take in future, should emergency relief not be
forthcoming.
The country as a whole is facing uncertain and challenging times, and for our profession emerging from the second year of the pandemic, the pressures and
stresses don't look to be easing up. It is undeniable that the wellbeing of those in our pharmacy family has suffered and many face emotional and psychological
challenges in addition to immense workplace pressure.
What do we know about the state of wellbeing within the profession? As the profession's independent charity, it is crucial that Pharmacist Support keeps abreast of
the changing needs of the profession to enable us to meet the needs of those we are here to help. To do this, each year we collaborate with the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society (RPS) to carry out an annual Workforce Wellbeing Survey.
The last survey carried out was in the latter part of 2021 but nothing has changed since. And the results provided stark reading. Of the 1,014 responses received,
many reported living with 'poor' or 'very poor' mental health and wellbeing.
The survey results highlight a continued clear need for mental health and wellbeing support. Within the survey, it was identified that there is a very clear need for
independent assistance, with many saying they feel unable to talk to their employers about their mental health issues. The need for our charity has never been clearer.
