The Aural Apothecary

• 7.8 Dr Margaret McCartney - Conflicts of Interest and the Skinny Jabs

  This episode we are joined by Dr Margaret McCartney a practising General Practitioner and a Senior Clinical Lecturer in General Practice at the University of St Andrews. Margaret is a vocal advocate for Evidence Based Medicine and regular journal / newspaper columnist and contributor to the BBC Radio 4 programme Inside Health. Does accepting money for a view affect a healthcare professional’s ability to make unbiased decisions in the patient’s interest? Should those with a conflict of interest be barred from producing guidelines or providing education? Should it be allowed at all? A controversial issue and an edgy conversation you will not want to miss! For our micro-discussion we get into the equally controversial subject of Weight-Loss jabs. A useful public health intervention or patient safety crisis in the making? We pick up on a recent episode of the BBC Radio 4 Programme Inside Health (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jsly) that examines the impact on the NHS of allowing  widespread prescribing of  the new weight-loss drugs. Links mentioned in the episode:Financial Conflicts of Interest and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2598092#ild160076r5Listen to Margaret talk about , and change other Doctors’ minds about Conflicts of Interest on the BMJ podcast: https://thebmjpodcast.podbean.com/e/taking-on-the-van-tullekens-how-margaret-mccartney-changed-their-minds-about-cois/As with all of our guests, Margaret shares with us her Memory Evoking Medicine, a career anthem and book that has influenced her career or life. Her drug will almost certainly have an effect on you…!The Apothecaries are on the road again! Come and see our next live show at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress on the 10th May in London. Book your tickets and find out more here: https://www.pharmacycongress.co.uk/london   Don’t forget to check out Steve’s impressive TV debut where he describes the role of a Clinical Pharmacist to none other than Professor Green on BBC Morning Live. This is a must watch for anyone who wants to understand this role and the impact of polypharmacy. A new career beckons… You can watch it here: https://www.rpharms.com/about-us/news/details/polypharmacy-featured-on-bbcs-morning-live. You can listen to the Aural Apothecary playlist here; https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3OsWj4w8sxsvuwR9zMXgn5?si=tiHXrQI7QsGtSQwPyz1KBg You can view the Aural Apothecary Library here;   https://litalist.com/shelf/view-bookcase?publicId=KN6E3O Our website is https://www.theauralapothecary.com/ To get in touch follow us on Bluesky and X @auralapothecary or email us at [email protected] . Don’t forget to rate us and comment wherever you have got this podcast from. 

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• 7.7 Diving into the Deep End - The Aural Apothecary Analyses: The Inverse Care Law.

  In this special episode we ‘Dive in at the Deep End’ and examine in-depth the Inverse Care Law. What is it, why does it matter to medicines optimisation - and what can we do about it? The Inverse Care Law is a term first defined by the Welsh GP Dr Julian Tudor Hart over 50 years to describe how, perversely, people who most need health care are the least likely to get it. A law that sadly is as true now as it was then. Will we finally get to hear about the day Jamie met Julian Tudor Hart…?To help us in our discussion we are re-joined by AA Alumni Dr Karen Sankey alongside Dr Beth Winn. Regular listeners will remember Karen from series 2,  a GP who specialises in Health Inclusion and trauma based coaching. Karen is passionate about tackling social justice and health inequalities and we find out what has been happening since we spoke to her last. Dr Beth Winn is a GP working at Charlotte Keel Medical Practice, one of the largest and most deprived practices in Bristol. Like Karen, she is passionate about improving equity in healthcare and has worked with marginalised patient groups in India, Malawi, New Zealand and South Africa.Charlotte Keel Medical Practice is part of the GPs at the Deep End initiative which strives to reduce health inequalities through providing peer support, advocacy, training and research opportunities to primary care clinicians working in disadvantaged areas. We delve into the experiences of staff working at the deep end supported by the following article from the British Journal of General Practice https://bjgp.org/content/74/749/e797. To support our discussion we look at The Health Foundation Paper ‘Tackling the Inverse Care Law’ https://www.health.org.uk/reports-and-analysis/reports/tackling-the-inverse-care-law.The original article penned by the great man himself in The Lancet can be read here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(71)92410-X/fulltext  As with all of our guests, Beth shares with us her Memory Evoking Medicine, a career anthem and book that has influenced her career or life. Is the choice a drug? You can decide, but it is a game-changer for Women’s health. The Apothecaries are on the road again! Come and see our next live show at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress on the 10th May in London. Book your tickets and find out more here: https://www.pharmacycongress.co.uk/london  Don’t forget to check out Steve’s impressive TV debut where he describes the role of a Clinical Pharmacist to none other than Professor Green on BBC Morning Live. This is a must watch for anyone who wants to understand this role and the impact of polypharmacy. A new career beckons… You can watch it here: https://www.rpharms.com/about-us/news/details/polypharmacy-featured-on-bbcs-morning-live. You can listen to the Aural Apothecary playlist here; https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3OsWj4w8sxsvuwR9zMXgn5?si=tiHXrQI7QsGtSQwPyz1KBg You can view the Aural Apothecary Library here;   https://litalist.com/shelf/view-bookcase?publicId=KN6E3OOur website is https://www.theauralapothecary.com/ To get in touch follow us on Bluesky and X @auralapothecary or email us at [email protected] . Don’t forget to rate us and comment wherever you have got this podcast from. 

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• 7.6 Professor Lauren Walker - The trials and tribulations of a Clinical Pharmacologist

  What is a Clinical Pharmacologist? Who better to tell us than Professor Lauren Walker, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics and Honorary Consultant in General Internal Medicine at Liverpool University. Lauren is a leading researcher in multimorbidity and AI-driven healthcare and plays a key role in early-phase clinical trials. We chat about her role in ‘First in Human’ trials - what are they, what are the risks and why are they so important? And how does this work reach across to her clinical role which focuses on multimorbidity and polypharmacy. We discuss the role that AI may play in predicting polypharmacy and the development of DynAIRx - an Artificial Intelligence being designed to support medicines optimisation on multimorbid patients. It's a Robotic version of Steve the Chemist!Our micro-discussion continues with the theme of clinical trials. How can we ensure they are representative of the populations they are supposed to be treating. Is it ever ethical to test new drugs on elderly and frail patients? ‘The current status of inclusion of older groups in evaluations of new medications: Gaps and implementation needs to fill them' https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38600697/As with all of our guests, Lauren shares with us her Memory Evoking Medicine, a career anthem and book that has influenced her career or life. Fans of pharmacology will not be disappointed. Check out Lauren's impressive full bio here, with further details of all of her research: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/people/lauren-walkerThis week we also discuss Steve’s impressive TV debut where he describes the role of a Clinical Pharmacist to none other than Professor Green on BBC Morning Live. This is a must watch for anyone who wants to understand this role and the impact of polypharmacy. A new career beckons… You can watch it here: https://www.rpharms.com/about-us/news/details/polypharmacy-featured-on-bbcs-morning-live. Our website is https://www.theauralapothecary.com/You can listen to the Aural Apothecary playlist here; https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3OsWj4w8sxsvuwR9zMXgn5?si=tiHXrQI7QsGtSQwPyz1KBg You can view the Aural Apothecary Library here;  https://litalist.com/shelf/view-bookcase?publicId=KN6E3O  To get in touch follow us on Bluesky and X @auralapothecary or email us at [email protected] . Don’t forget to rate us and comment wherever you have got this podcast from. 

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• 7.5 - Deprescribing from Down Under - Dr Emily Reeve

  What is Deprescribing? Why is it so important? And the big question... who invented it?! We present a masterclass in deprescribing from pharmacist Dr Emily Reeve from Monash University in Australia who is also Chair of the Australian Deprescribing Network.The need to review, reduce or stop medicines has been a regular topic of conversation here on the Aural Apothecary. But how do we do it? Deprescribing should be an integral component of appropriate prescribing and is defined as the systematic process of dose reduction or discontinuing a medicine under the supervision of a healthcare professional. We chat to Emily about the difficulties faced, advancements in practice and her research into the topic. What help is available for prescribers? Do patients actually want their medicines stopped? And who is the world leader in Deprescribing...?There is no one better with whom to discuss this topic. Dr Emily Reeve, as well as being Chair of the Australian Deprescribing Network, is a Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Theme Lead for the Centre for Medicines Use and Safety, in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Monash University in Australia.Should information on how to stop a drug feature in guidance on how to start it? In our micro-discussion we delve deeper into the guidance available for prescribers when we look at one of Emily’s papers 'What do clinical practice guidelines say about deprescribing' https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/34/1/28  As with all of our guests, Emily shares with us her Memory Evoking Medicine, a career anthem and book that has influenced her career or life. We learn that it is hard to dance with the devil on your back.Want to get your papers published? Jamie mentioned the site https://gettingpaperspublished.com/You can listen to the Aural Apothecary playlist here;https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3OsWj4w8sxsvuwR9zMXgn5?si=tiHXrQI7QsGtSQw Pyz1KBgYou can view the Aural Apothecary Library here;https://litalist.com/shelf/view-bookcase?publicId=KN6E3OOur website is https://www.theauralapothecary.com/        To get in touch follow us on Twitter and Instagram @auralapothecary or email us at [email protected] . Don’t forget to rate us and comment wherever you have got this podcast from.

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• The Aural Apothecary Almanac 2024. Weight loss drugs, Assisted dying and the Weight of the British National Formulary

  Pull up a chair and join the Three Apothecaries around the fire as we wrap up the year with a lively chat featuring friends and colleagues Clare Howard and Jonathan Underhill. Together, we reflect on an exciting and dramatic year in the ever-changing world of healthcare and medicines.From groundbreaking developments like weight-loss drugs and debates around assisted dying to critical issues such as polypharmacy and exploring new career paths, we dive into the stories that shaped 2024—and how they’ve impacted us personally and professionally.On a lighter note, What does the weight of the British National Formulary reveal about the history of medicines? What drink smells like a pharmacy? And how measuring Prostate Specific Antigen can be fun!For this episode’s micro discussion, we travel back 60 years to explore the 1964 classic, "Patient's View of Admission to a London Teaching Hospital." This fascinating study sheds light on how patient experiences have evolved—and in some cases, stayed the same—over the decades. (Read the paper)This year has been one for the record books, with the Three Apothecaries travelling to Bordeaux and performing for a sell-out audience in Cardiff. We’re so grateful to our incredible guests and loyal listeners for making it another unforgettable year of stories, conversations, and medicines-related fun.Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!Check out our website www.theauralapothecary.com  for a searchable database of all episodes, blogs and bonus content for your enjoyment and education.To get in touch and interact follow us on Blue Sky @auralapothecary.pharmsky.app , Twitter @auralapothecary or email us at [email protected] . Don’t forget to rate us and comment wherever you have got this podcast from. You can listen to the Aural Apothecary playlist here; https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3OsWj4w8sxsvuwR9zMXgn5?si=tiHXrQI7QsGtSQwPyz1KBg You can view the Aural Apothecary Library here;  https://litalist.com/shelf/view-bookcase?publicId=KN6E3O

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