Bookmarkers beware: Bookmarks to pages other than the home page may not work after we change our server in April Editor's Choice | This Week in BMJ | Press releases BMJ No 7133 Volume 316 Press Releases Saturday 7 March 1998 Embargoed: 00.01 hrs 6 March 1998 UK time Could cardiovascular drugs be linked to suicide? Electronic patient records and the risk to patient confidentiality Setting prescribing budgets in general practice Health professionals should lead by example Could cardiovascular drugs be linked to suicide? (Use of calcium channel blockers and risk of suicide: ecological findings confirmed in population based cohort study) See Paper (abstract only), p 741 In a study including 152 Swedish municipalities (total population of 7.3 million), Lindberg et al investigated possible associations between the use of cardiovascular drugs and suicide and the results of this study are published in this week's BMJ. The authors found a significant correlation between the use of calcium channel blockers and the incidence of suicide (that remained significant when differences in cardiovascular morbidity were considered). Furthermore, in a five year study of drugs for high blood pressure, the authors found a fivefold increase in the incidence of suicide in users of calcium channel blockers compared with users of other antihypertensives. Lindberg et al conclude that calcium channel blockers should be considered a possible cause of depression and suicide. Contact: Dr Anne Melander, Professor of Pharmocoepidemiology, Swedish Network for Pharmacoepidemiology Foundation, Malm? University Hospital, Sweden Electronic patient records and the risk to patient confidentiality (Patient data, confidentiality and electronics) See Editorial, p 718 In an editorial in this week's BMJ, Kelly considers the issue of patient confidentiality in light of the ongoing technological advances within the healthcare system. In an appraisal of the Caldicott report (a review of the problem of patient confidentiality within NHS information systems), Kelly identifies some of the difficulties of handling patient data in an electronic age. Contact: Dr Grant Kelly, Chair, Joint Computing Group of the General Medical Services Committee and Royal College of General Practitioners, Keynor House, Sidlesham , Chichester, West Sussex Setting prescribing budgets in general practice (Capitation based prescribing budgets will not work) (Effective prescribing at practice level should be identified and rewarded) See Paper (abstract only), p 657 General practice prescribing costs have risen rapidly in recent years and there are wide variations between practices in rates and costs of prescribing. In this week's BMJ, Majeed and Head argue that capitation based formulas for prescribing are very crude tools and that health authority pharmaceutical and medical advisers should use their knowledge of local factors when setting budgets. They also underline that GPs need to ensure that their prescribing is appropriate and cost effective. To the contrary Greenhalgh argues that Majeed and Head fail to take into account the reality of the variability of prescribing costs between practices, even when local factors are accounted for. She concludes that it is theoretically possible for health authorities to identify a range of bands within which a practice's prescribing costs should fall and calls for a pilot study to test the feasibility of such a notion. Contact: Dr Azeem Majeed, Senior Lecturer in General Practice, Division of General Practice and Primary Care, St George's Hospital Medical School, London Dr Trisha Greenhalgh, Unit for Evidence Based Practice and Policy, Joint Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, UCLMS/RFHSM, Whittington Hospital, London Health professionals should lead by example (Three quarters of delegates drove to conference on impact of environment on health) In the leading letter in this week's BMJ, Hanratty and Patterson report that of 165 delegates who attended a conference on the "impact of the environment on our health", three quarters drove to the venue! Despite the fact that the location had been chosen for its accessibility from bus routes and the local train station, the authors found that three quarters of the delegates travelled by car and of these more than half travelled alone. They also discovered that seniority increased the likelihood of travel by car. The authors conclude that if health and local authorities are to lead the way to a healthier nation, then transport policies for their staff may be a good place to start! Contact: Bob Schofield, North Yorkshire Health Authority, York Embargo: 00.01 hrs Friday 6 March 1998 Please contact Public Affairs Division for the text of the paper & the authors for further comment For further information, please contact: Jill Shepherd on 0171 383 6254 Public Affairs Division, BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JP After 6pm & at weekends: 0181 651 5130, 0181 241 6386, 0181 674 6294, 0171 727 2897, 0181 997 3653 Or fax requests to Public Affairs Division, BMA on 0171 383 6403. If you currently receive your British Medical Journal press release by mail and you would like it faxed to you please telephone (0)171 383 6123, Fax: (0)171 554 6123 or E-mail: ejacobs@mail.bma.org.uk When dialling the UK from abroad, remember to delete the first zero from the local area code, eg, (00 44) 171... 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