Seven days in medicine: 28 June to 4 July 2017
BMJ 2017; 358 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j3234 (Published 06 July 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;358:j3234
Transparency
More doctors disclose payments from drug companies
Nearly two thirds of UK doctors and other healthcare professionals chose to disclose payments made to them by drug companies in 2016, up 10 percentage points from 2015. The industry paid a total of £454.5m (€518m; $587m) to work with UK healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations in 2016, said Disclosure UK, a website run by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. This was up 25% from 2015, when this spending was first published. (Full story doi:10.1136/bmj.j3195)
Google DeepMind trial failed to comply with law
The Information Commissioner’s Office ruled that the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust in London did not comply with the Data Protection Act when it provided patient details to Google’s DeepMind programme. The trust provided personal data on around 1.6 million patients as part of a trial to test an acute kidney injury alert, diagnosis, and detection system. But an Information Commissioner’s Office investigation found several shortcomings in how the data were handled, including patients not being adequately informed that their data would be used in the test.
Psychoactive substances
EU proposes NPS ban
The European Union council and parliament reached agreement on a planned reform of the legislation on new psychoactive substances that are used as alternatives to illicit drugs. A proposed amendment to regulations was tabled in response to the risks to public health and safety stemming from the rapid expansion of new psychoactive substances in Europe and worldwide. The changes aim to streamline the procedure for assessing the potential negative effects of new psychoactive substances and deciding on a possible ban.
Clinical variation
NHS improves productivity
A national programme designed to reduce clinical variation in the …
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