In brief

Prescriptions in England for alcohol dependency soar: Nearly 167 800 items to treat alcohol dependency were dispensed in the community in England in 2011, a rise of nearly 5% on the previous year (160 200) and of 63% on 2003 (102 700), show new data. At 517 per 100 000 of population, the north west had the highest number of prescriptions, while London had the lowest (138 per 100 000).1

Confusion is high in US over safe doses of paracetamol: Five hundred …