Selected items from the News and Latest Additions sections of www.palliativedrugs.com, the world’s leading palliative care website.
Hot topics
Tramadol to be a Schedule 3 CD and temazepam exemptions to be removed
The UK government has decided that tramadol will become a Schedule 3 controlled drug (CD) later this year, but will have exemption from the safe custody requirement. It also plans to remove the prescription writing exemptions for temazepam to be in-line with other schedule 3 CDs, subject to further advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. This follows a consultation between July and October 2013 (see our news item 30 July 2013). For more information, click here.
NICE guideline on managing medicines in care homes
The UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidelines on managing medicines in care homes (SC1). For more information, click here.
Drug updates
New buprenorphine patch launched in UK
A new brand of buprenorphine transdermal patch (Hapoctasin®; Actavis) has been launched in the UK. The patches are authorized for moderate to severe chronic cancer pain and severe pain unresponsive to non-opioid analgesics in adults. The patches are available as 35, 52.5 and 70micrograms/h for 72h and the current NHS list price is about 40% cheaper than Transtec® (Napp). For the SPC, click here.
Latest additions
PCF4 print version now only £25
The print version of the Palliative Care Formulary 4th edition (PCF4) is now available for a special half price offer of £25 via our website store. Please note that it is anticipated that PCF5 print edition will be available Autumn 2014. The on-line formulary will still be continually updated, providing the most up to date version of the Palliative Care Formulary. For further details of publication plans during 2014 see our news article (9 January 2014).
PCF updated monographs
The following monographs of the on-line Palliative Care Formulary (PCF) have been updated during March 2014 and supersede those in the publication of the 4th edition of the Palliative Care formulary (PCF4) and PCF4+ 2013 epdf. They can be accessed from the formulary section of the website:
Chapter 01: Prokinetics
Chapter 02: Cardiovascular system (chapter introduction)
Chapter 03: Drugs for cough, Mucolytics, Antitussives
Chapter 08: Discoloured urine
Chapter 09: Zinc (minor change)
Chapter 11: Mouthwashes (minor change)
Chapter 13: Propofol (minor change)
Chapter 23: Nebulized drugs
For a full list of all the monographs updated since the publication of PCF4, click here.
Which syringe driver do you use?
Results from our survey (January 2014 – February 2014).
Die Ausgabe 01/2014 des APM-Newsletter ist erschienen
Issue 01/2014 of the APM Newsletter for German-speaking users of palliativedrugs.com is available.
Die Ausgabe 01/2014 des APM-Newsletter ist erschienen. Über die aktuelle Ausgaben des Newsletters wird Sie das Bulletin Board informieren.
Prepared by Sarah Charlesworth and Andrew Wilcock