NEWS
OVER £100K FINE FOR SALE OF PATIENT DATA
The UK’s largest NHS-approved online pharmacy has been fined £130,000 by the Government’s data protection watchdog for selling the names and addresses of more than 21,000 patients without their consent.
The details sold by Pharmacy2U, which dispenses medicines to patients on behalf of the NHS, were later bought by an Australian lottery company and a health supplements firm, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said. In what the watchdog described as an “inconceivable” breach of the Data Protection Act, the company put the details of more than 100,000 customers up for sale through an online marketing website at the end of last year. The database was advertised as including people suffering from ailments such as asthma, Parkinson’s disease and erectile dysfunction.
Some of the data, which Pharmacy2U priced at £130 for 1,000 records, was bought by an Australian lottery company which then “deliberately targeted elderly and vulnerable individuals”, the ICO said. The watchdog said it was “likely” that some customers would have lost money as a result of their details being passed on.
RQIA PUBLIC PERCEPTION SURVEy 2015
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Researchers at the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, at Queen’s University Belfast are leading a
€50 million, Europe-wide, consortium to develop new drug
treatments that could improve the lives of patients with cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis.
The iABC (inhaled Antibiotics in Bronchiectasis and Cystic Fibrosis) consortium, which is made up of world-leading lung specialists from across Europe, will work to develop new inhaled antibiotics to manage chronic lung infection, the main cause of disease and death in patients with cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis.
These new antibiotics will be trialed over a five-year period and are being developed in response to an urgent need for new forms of inhaled antibiotic products which are expected to improve patients’ quality of life by reducing lung infections and flare ups, whilst overcoming antibacterial resistance which frequently occurs in patients with these conditions.
The Consortium, which is led by Professor Stuart Elborn (School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences) and Professor Michael Tunney (School of Pharmacy), with EFPIA partners Novartis and Basilea, is funded by the European Commission
PSNI comment on fee anomalies
During a DHSSPS approval of Pharmaceutical Society fees, a number of anomalies came to light; which subsequently resulted in an immediate review by the Society.
Following the meeting of the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland, held on 14 September 2015, President of the Council, Dr. Jim Livingstone said, “Each year we raise money through fees to fund operations and services in pursuit of our statutory duties. In doing so we seek to maintain and uphold the high standards expected from the profession of pharmacy and to act in the public interest as regulator. These fees are required to be included in Regulations which are approved by the Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) and the Northern Ireland Assembly.
“In the course of the 2014/15 review of these fees, which was the subject of
public consultation, the DHSSPS was requested, under Articles 5 and 25A of the Pharmacy Northern Ireland (Order) 1976, as amended, to approve our proposed amendments to some of the fees levied.”
He added, “During this approval process it became clear that, in the last round of substantive amendments to fees in 2009, some of the changes we had requested at that time had for some reason not in fact been incorporated in new Regulations as we had expected.”
The Council initiated an immediate and comprehensive review of fees charged and their historic legislative basis. As a result, it became clear that a number of anomalies had arisen over a period of twenty years such that some registrants and prospective registrants were charged fees for services provided on the basis of a fee structure that was not consistent with Regulations.
In particular, this affected the registration of students and those taking pre-registration examinations.
Dr Livingstone went on to say, “Following exhaustive enquiries, the Council is satisfied that at all times we have acted in good faith and at no time did we deliberately or knowingly authorise the charging of a fee in excess of its statutory authority.
“We have written to all registrants detailing those groups of registrants which may be affected by the historical anomalies in the fee structures. Secondly, we will imminently be launching a consultation document on proposals to set out a revised statutory basis for all future fees which is more coherent and integrated, with the objective of avoiding any reoccurrence of the current development.
“This is for all concerned, undoubtedly an unwelcome situation and one which the Council sincerely regrets,” he added.
Local researchers lead antibiotics trial Professor Michael Tunney, QUB School of Pharmacy
through the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and involves researchers from 20 organisations in eight countries across Europe. The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust will also be a key partner in clinical trials of the new antibiotics.
In response to this promising news for Queen’s University, Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry said: “I commend Queen’s on
successfully securing €23.3 million from the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). This award will facilitate world leading collaborative research to develop new antibiotic treatment options for people with Cystic Fibrosis and Bronchiectasis.
Additionally, Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister, Jonathan Bell, said: “I want to congratulate Queen’s University on this tremendous success in Horizon 2020 which will see over
€23m come to Northern Ireland. Securing these major international
research awards is an important part of the NI Executive’s Innovation Strategy to transform our economy into one that is knowledge based. The University’s success is not only testimony to the world class research capabilities we have in Northern Ireland but also to the support provided by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and the Department for Employment and Learning though the Horizon 2020 Northern Ireland Contact Point Network which played a key part in helping secure this research award.”
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