Cochrane review: Cannabinoids for nausea and vomiting in adults with cancer receiving chemotherapy

30th December 2015

A new Cochrane review (CD009464) has been published in full on-line. The authors’ concluded that although consideration needs to be made of the adverse effect profile of cannabinoids, they are a useful adjunctive treatment to consider for people on moderately or highly emetic chemotherapy that are refractory to other anti-emetic treatments, when all other options of therapy have been tried.

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Opioids Aware: a good practice resource to support opioid prescribing

30th December 2015

The Faculty of Pain Medicine, in conjunction with Public Health England, has launched a good practice prescribing resource for opioids. It replaces and expands the British Pain Society guidance ‘Opioids in persistent pain’ (2010) and although mainly focusses on opioid use for long-term non-cancer pain indications, acute pain and palliative care are also mentioned. 

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Losec injection and infusion discontinued

17th December 2015

AstraZeneca has discontinued Losec (omeprazole) 40mg injection and 40mg powder for solution for infusion, with effect from December 2015. A generic version of omeprazole 40mg powder for solution for infusion is available from Sandoz.

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NHS England pain management formulary for prisons

17th December 2015

NHS England has published a pain management formulary and an implementation guide for the treatment of acute, persistent and neuropathic pain in patients in prison. It does not include the management of pain in palliative care, however the formulary may provide support and extra information on the specific challenges of prescribing pain medicines in prisons.

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Care of the dying: NICE guidelines published

16th December 2015

NICE has published the guidelines for the care of the dying adult (NG31). This follows a consultation period earlier in the year (see our news item 30 July 2015 and discussion on our Bulletin board). The prescribing tables, for the use of drugs by non-specialists, have been removed from the final guideline and are being further developed separately as an additional resource. The full guideline and the consultation responses can be downloaded from the links below.

Care of dying adults in the last days of life (NG31) full guidance

Consultation responses

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Naloxegol approved by SMC

15th December 2015

Naloxegol (Moventig; Astra Zeneca) has been approved by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) for use in NHS Scotland for treating opioid-induced constipation in adults whose constipation has not adequately responded to laxatives. Naloxegol was recently launched in the UK (see our news item 14 October 2015).

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Bisphosphonates and very rare osteonecrosis of the external auditory canal

15th December 2015

MHRA have warned that osteonecrosis of the external auditory canal has been reported very rarely (<0.01%) with bisphosphonates, mainly in association with long-term therapy of >2 years. The possibility of this condition should be considered in patients on bisphosphonates who present with ear symptoms, including chronic ear infections, or in patients with suspected cholesteatoma. Risk factors include steroid use/chemotherapy.

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Cyclizine injection 50mg/mL supply difficulties

9th December 2015

There is a shortage of cyclizine 50mg/mL injection (AmdiPharm-Mercury) in some areas of the UK due to a delay in supply from the manufacturer. We understand that a delivery is expected in January 2016, and the company anticipates being out of stock for 2−4 weeks. There is no alternative authorized cyclizine injection available in the UK.

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