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The article mentions that poisoning caused due to intake of paracetamol could be fatal and talks about several other side effects that are associated with it such as acute liver failure and liver injury. It discusses the metabolism of paracetamol in the body, the damage caused by it to the liver and several factors that could aggravate the impact of the damage such as malnourishment and alcoholism. It mentions several symptoms associated with paracetamol poisoning which are visible within a few hours of its intake. It informs about the diagnostic methods which should adopted to determine the level of the poisoning and the type of subsequent and supportive courses of treatment that should be prescribed. It also mentions situations where the patient succumbs to the poisoning.

The authors reflect on the potential medical and health benefits of biosimilar medicines. Topics covered include the fundamental definitions and examples of biological products and biosimilars, how England's National Health Service (NHS) can benefit in prescribing cheaper biosimilars, and the problems and challenges encountered in naming and prescribing biosimilars. The authors also provide recommendations with regards to prescribing biosimilars.

We propose the following definition of a medical device: "A contrivance designed and manufactured for use in healthcare, and not solely medicinal or nutritional." Current regulatory classifications of medical devices are complex and designed primarily for regulators. We propose a simpler classification, based on (1) the site of application of the device, (2) the time scale of its use, and (3) whether it has an external power source. The regulation of medical devices is less well developed than the regulation of medicinal products, which it could follow more closely. In particular, devices that incorporate medicines should be required to meet the same regulatory standards as medicinal products. This would remove the anomaly that some delivery systems that incorporate medicines are classified as devices while other similar systems that deliver the same medicines are classified as medicinal products. Some improvements might also result from more widespread use of registries, such as those used for prosthetic joint replacements. Registries would allow both a prospective examination of the performance of high-risk devices and a retrospective analysis when signals from other sources of information suggest problems. Those who apply for a marketing authorization for a new device should have to assure regulators of its quality of manufacture, safety, and efficacy before licensing. Even the most straightforward device should be shown to be useable in practice. Trials on patients, or at least simulations of use in the real world, should be practicable for most devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses whether the mefloquine drug should still be used for chemoprophylaxis by the British military personnel. Topics discussed include the three options for chemoprophylaxis against chloroquine resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria, two forms of mefoquine-induced neuropsychiatric reaction, and nomination of a first-line treatment and reservation of another drug for second-line use.

Discusses the medical concept of concordance, in which the physician and patient come together to make a decision regarding the prescribed medical treatment for the patient's condition. Importance of dialogue between a physician and patient in optimizing the potential benefits of medical care; Difficulty in assessing the risks and benefits in the taking of prescribed medicines; Behavioral aspects of taking prescribed medicines.

Editorial. Comments on the Audit Commission report, 'A Spoonful of Sugar,' which indicates a fivefold increase in ten years of medication errors or adverse reactions to medicines in Great Britain. Discussion of the Audit Commission's failure to distinguish between medication errors, inevitable adverse reactions, and potentially preventable adverse reactions; Factors that contribute to medication errors; View that those who prescribe and give drugs should be better educated and tested on competency in patient safety.

Introduction: Medicines cause over 1700 preventable deaths annually in England. Coroners' Prevention of Future Death reports (PFDs) are produced in response to preventable deaths to facilitate change. The information in PFDs may help reduce medicine-related preventable deaths. Objectives: We aimed to identify medicine-related deaths in coroners' reports and to explore concerns to prevent future deaths. Methods: We carried out a retrospective case series of PFDs across England and Wales, dated between 1 July, 2013 and 23 February, 2022, collected from the UK's Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website using web scraping, generating an openly available database: https://preventabledeathstracker.net/. We used descriptive techniques and content analysis to assess the main outcome criteria: the proportion of PFDs in which coroners reported that a therapeutic medicine or drug of abuse had caused or contributed to a death; the characteristics of included PFDs; coroners' concerns; the recipients of PFDs; and the timeliness of their responses. Results: There were 704 PFDs (18%; 716 deaths) that involved medicines, representing an estimated 19,740 years of life lost (average of 50 years lost per death). Opioids (22%), antidepressants (9.7%), and hypnotics (9.2%) were the most common drugs involved. Coroners expressed 1249 concerns, primarily around the major themes of patient safety (29%) and communication (26%), including minor themes of failures of monitoring (10%) and poor communication between organizations (7.5%). Most expected responses to PFDs (51%; 630/1245) were not reported on the UK's Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website. Conclusions: One in five coroner-reported preventable deaths involved medicines. Addressing coroners' concerns, including problems with patient safety and communication, should reduce harms from medicines. Despite concerns being raised repeatedly, half of the PFD recipients failed to respond, suggesting that lessons are not generally learned. The rich information in PFDs should be used to foster a learning environment in clinical practice that may help reduce preventable deaths. Clinical Trial Registration: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/TX3CS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "How long should treatments be continued?," by J. C. Craig et al, published in the August 19, 2010 issue.

We report the case of a 27-year-old, UK-born, Asian woman who suffered a rare recurrence of Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease. She presented with tender lymphadenopathy of the neck, fever and a prodrome of flu-like symptoms. She had a past medical history of biopsy-proven Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease of her right axilla 2 years earlier, which required no treatment. Following her repeat admission, a cervical lymph node biopsy confirmed a diagnosis of recurrent Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease. She did not improve despite treatment with paracetamol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). She was started on high-dose prednisolone and her symptoms, pyrexia, and inflammatory markers settled within 24 h. She continually improved and the prednisolone was slowly reduced over 9 months. Kikuchi-Fujimoto is a rare, benign, self-limiting disease that presents with lymphadenopathy and fever. It rarely reoccurs. The severity, recurrence and the different body site make this an unusual case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To report on a retrospective study of individual funding request (IFR) submissions from a large tertiary hospital and describe gaps in current mechanisms for funding of high‐cost medicines in England. Methods: Data on the number and outcome of IFR submissions submitted to commissioners between 2014/15 and 2018/19 was extracted from the electronic patient health record and a local high‐cost drug database. Results: In total, 230 IFRs were submitted: 112 to NHS England and 118 to a Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The decline rate for IFRs was 71% for NHS England and 34% for CCGs. Lack of exceptionality was the primary reason cited for declining IFRs submitted between 2016–18 (n = 42/45; 93%). Half of the patients whose IFR was declined received treatment funded through other routes, the majority (13/23; 57%) from internal hospital budget. This was governed via a local high‐cost drug panel. Positive clinical outcomes were observed in 50% (4/8) of patients who received NHS England IFR‐funded treatment, 54% (19/35) who received CCG IFR‐funded treatment and 91% (21/23) who were funded via other routes. Conclusion: The high rate of IFR decline signals inefficient use of resource expended in the IFR process. Gaps in access to high‐cost medicines remain for patients with rare and refractory disease requiring urgent treatment, largely due to the demand for exceptionality from NHS commissioners. Local mechanisms address this unmet need but have limitations. An outcomes‐based evaluation approach to commissioning and greater transparency of previous funding decisions by commissioners may improve efficiency and equity in the IFR system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct‐acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are licensed for the prevention of thromboembolism in non‐valvular atrial fibrillation, amongst other indications. Prescribers use information derived from the summary of product characteristics which is based on the key trials supporting the DOAC's market authorisation. However, prescribers may not be aware of the limitations within these trials regarding underrepresentation of patient populations commonly encountered in clinical practice and how this may adversely impact them. This review highlights the gaps in the licensing evidence using four clinical vignettes that explore prescribing challenges in older adults, female patients, patients with obesity and patients from non‐Europid ethnic backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]