Nuneaton pharmacy given national acclaim

A Nuneaton pharmacy has been crowned the best in the nation for its efforts to help people give up smoking – and prevent them picking up the habit in the first place, the Nuneaton News reports.

The Kasli Pharmacy on Tomkinson Road organised a host of activities on No Smoking Day, including an onsite promotion and recruitment for their dedicated stop smoking course, which has now been given the 'best pharmacy activity campaign' award in the British Heart Foundation's No Smoking Day Organiser of the Year competition.

Their course includes 'stop smoking champions' who follow patients through 12 weeks, seeing them weekly and providing advice and support.

Their recruitment scheme for quitters is something that particularly impressed the judges, as well as the high quit rate and great patient feedback.

The pharmacy is even working with schools by running classes to try and get children to understand the dangers of smoking and vaping.

Newington Pharmacy arrests: Trio arrested on suspicion of 'defrauding the NHS'

Two men and a woman at Newington Pharmacy were arrested on suspicion of defrauding the NHS, fraud investigators have confirmed, the Isle of Thanet Gazette reports.

The trio were arrested on Monday, January 11 and have been released on bail until April pending further inquiries.

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The pharmacy was raided by police and NHS fraud investigators on Monday, January 11 and was closed throughout the day.

Officers were seen carrying bags out of the shop and placing them in a police van.

Falmouth doctors' "bungalow" surgery could make way for brand new facility

The current Westover Surgery in Falmouth could be demolished to make way for a new purpose-built facility with a pharmacy, under proposals which are now with Cornwall Council for pre-application advice, The Packet reports.

The existing surgery in Western Terrace was originally a semi-bungalow built in 1967 which was transformed into the medical centre in 1991.

In the mid-90s the practice acquired the small surgery on Trelawney Road and between the two sites, the practice now has over 8,000 patients on its books.

High Living is bad news for heart patients

The higher up you live in a tower block the less chance you will survive a heart attack, The Times reports.

Canadian researches blamed problems in getting to the patient quickly once the ambulance had arrived.

These included getting past security, waiting for a lift and then getting a patient down to the waiting ambulance,

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, analysed 8,216 emergency calls for adult heart attacks around Toronto from 2007-12.

Investors show little appetite to chase large biotech deals

After months of battling a public outcry over high drug prices, the pharmaceutical and biotech industry had hoped its annual gathering in San Francisco would provide an opportunity to start the year on a positive note, reports the Financial Times.

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The JPMorgan Healthcare Conference is the largest event of its kind, providing a forum for companies to trumpet their prospects and for healthcare bankers to cook up deals.

Shire, the Anglo-Irish drugmaker, kicked off proceedings by announcing its long-awaited $32bn takeover of US-based Baxalta last Monday.

But investors reacted to the proposed acquisition by sending shares in both companies tumbling, adding to a growing sense that appetite for large deals is waning.

How a lie in can reduce your diabetes risk

A weekend lie-in can reverse the increased risk of diabetes caused by a lack of sleep, The Times reports.

A study has found getting only four or five hours’ sleep a night can increase the risk of developing diabetes by about 16 per cent – comparable to the increase in risk caused by obesity.

The study found that two consecutive nights of sleeping for nearly 10 hours can reverse the damage.

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Rare disease drug faces FDA test

A panel of experts appointed by the US Food and Drug Administration is set to recommend on Friday whether or not the medicines watchdog should approve a new drug for a rare and deadly childhood disease, the Financial Times reports.

There is no treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, an inherited disorder that cause progressive muscle weakness in boys, leading to paralysis in early infancy, and cardiac and respiratory problems during a sufferer’s teenae years.

Most patients die in their 20s.

Sarepta Therapeutics, a tiny biotech group, hopes to secure the first approval for a DMD drug, but a negative document published by the FDA last Friday does not bode well.