The 35 biggest pharma companies pay about £40m a year in total to British doctors for expenses like service fees, flights, hotel and other travel expenses, figures from the ABPI have revealed. The ABPI represents big pharma companies and has agreed since 2010 to provide this information voluntarily. However, critics such as Ben Goldacre, author… Learn more
The Financial Services Authority was right to refuse to disclose information under a request made under the Freedom of Information Act. Under the Act, people are entitled to be given information by public bodies unless an exemption applies. In this case, the FSA said that as the information sought was “confidential” under the Financial Services… Learn more
Developers of both commercial and residential property should be aware of the latest consultation paper to be published by the Law Commission, which looks at whether conservation covenants should be introduced into the law of England and Wales. A conservation covenant is a voluntary agreement between a landowner and a conservation organisation or public body… Learn more
The Government has announced new measures that will combat applications for “meritless” judicial reviews in England that hold up development projects. The Justice secretary Chris Grayling said that the Government was making the changes in order to eliminate unmerited applications which act as “cheap delaying tactics”, so that, instead, judicial review is only used by… Learn more
In a recent case, Zennstrom & anr v Fagot and others, the High Court has looked at whether the owners of a house, which had been completely rebuilt and sold one year later, were liable to the purchasers who, after purchasing the house, had discovered that it was structurally defective and had demolish it. The… Learn more
The Government has issued a new consultation paper which puts forward further changes to the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), a tax on property development. The CIL, which was introduced in April 2010, allows local ‘charging authorities’ in England and Wales to raise funds from developers who are undertaking new building projects in their area. This… Learn more
The AllTrials campaign is now at a crossroads, it admits. It can go one of two ways now – either to fizzle out like other previous efforts that have pushed for clinical trial transparency, or to gain momentum. Those are the views of Sir Iain Chalmers, who co-founded the Cochrane Collaboration. AllTrials has got an… Learn more
Boris Johnson, the London mayor, is leading a new strategy Health Board in London. The Board will comprise council leaders and healthcare representatives. The Board will be a forum to discuss key issues and resources around healthcare in London. The first meeting is taking place in May and will set out the Board’s remit. Boris… Learn more
Community pharmacists have seen a worsening of the problems caused by medicine supply shortages. Those are the findings of the Chemist + Druggist’s Stocks Survey 2012, which shows a significant deterioration since 2011. 57% of respondents saw the health of at least one of their patients suffer compared to 45% in 2011. 94% admitted to… Learn more
The number of prescriptions dispensed by the National Health Service exceeded one billion in 2012. This was the first time this has happened. This was a 5% rise on 2011. However, the cost of prescriptions to the NHS fell by 3% to £8.5bn, largely because of increased use of generics drugs. Stephen Whitehead, CEO of… Learn more