[Home]   [Full version]  

Non-prescription pills draws controversy

Feb 05 ,Medicine & Health


A new plan in Britain that would allow birth control pills to be available for sale without prescription has some area doctors concerned, a report said.

Several British doctors have asked the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority to consider the new plan carefully because such medication sometimes can have major side effects, the Daily Mail reported.

While the proposal does call for any pharmacist offering birth control pills over the counter to check out a customer's medical history, the doctors remain concerned about the legislation.

They said the medication can especially prove dangerous to women who are already vulnerable to blood clots.

Those doctors will be given a chance to voice their opposition to the proposal at a meeting on Tuesday with drug industry representatives, along with National Health Service and other government officials.

The Daily Mail said similar legislation was previously passed for a migraine medication and cholesterol-lowering statins.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

Related stories:

No longer depressed, or on meds
Henry Quant was just 5 years old and bedridden with chronic fevers when he began taking pills for anxiety and depression. His mother knew that the drugs helped, but they made her nervous.
Epilepsy drug may help alcoholics recover from dependence, small study suggests
It's a Catch-22 of the highest order. People with alcohol problems often use alcohol to get to sleep -- but it actually keeps them from getting good-quality sleep all night long.
2-drug blood pressure therapy lowers cardiovascular risk
An international blood pressure study comparing two single-pill drug combinations has yielded results so significant that the study has been stopped early – and the researchers say their findings might alter the way high blood pressure is treated worldwide.
Sensor necklace aims to increase elderly and clinical trial participant drug compliance
Researchers now have a possible solution for the one in three adults who fail to take their medicines as prescribed by their doctors, as well as for everyone else who occasionally forgets: a sensor necklace that records the exact time and date when specially-designed pills are swallowed, and reminds the user if any doses are being missed.
MIT's smart pillbox targets TB
Tuberculosis has long been eradicated from the world's industrialized nations but continues to take a terrible toll in a few poor, rural regions of Asia and Africa. Every year, 10 million new cases are diagnosed and two million people die of the disease.
Improving doctor-patient communication yields significant health benefits
A UCSF research team has developed a simple tool that can improve the effectiveness of communication between doctors and patients about prescribed medications and result in dramatic improvements in health and safety.
To get blood pressure under control, combination of medicines may be best
Millions of Americans take medications for hypertension but do not achieve control of their blood pressure. Single-tablet combinations of drugs may be what it takes to get blood pressure under control, even in people with moderate hypertension, according to results from a new international study involving more than 10,700 people with high blood pressure.
Molecular medicine comes to the rescue
On Monday, August 14, Lilly Jaffe, a six-year-old North Shore suburban girl who had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was one month old, checked into the Clinical Research Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center. On Friday, August 18, she checked out, starting to make her own insulin, well on her way to insulin independence and ready to get in a few days of beach time in Michigan before starting first grade.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news

[Home]   [Full version]