BMJ Group

DTB Podcast

Health EN ↓ 188 episodes

The Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB) Podcast is your source for practical, independent, and evidence-based information on drugs, medication, and prescribing. Join the Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor of DTB each month as they discuss the key highlights of the latest issue. DTB - dtb.bmj.com - is published by BMJ Group, and offers rigorous, independent evaluations and practical advice on treatments and disease management for doctors, pharmacists, and healthcare professionals. Subscribe to the DTB Podcast and get the latest drug and therapeutic insights.* The purpose of this podcast is to e...

Author

BMJ Group

Category

Health

Podcast website

dtbbmj.podbean.com

Latest episode

Mar 23, 2026

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Episodes

May 2022 - an apology, international drug bulletins, mirtazapine and oral antivirals for covid-19 26.04.2022

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the May 2022 issue of DTB. They talk about drug bulletins across the world and the role of the International Society of Drug Bulletins in supporting bulletins and ensuring that they are intellectually and financially independent (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/60/5/66). They review a study that...

DTB turns 60! Plus: conflicts of interest, harms from nitrofurantoin and hypertension in pregnancy 22.03.2022

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the April 2022 issue of DTB. They talk about DTB's 60th anniversary, the importance of independent scrutiny of new medicines and the need to question how medicines are licensed and used (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/60/4/50). They highlight the benefits of a comprehensive national register of...

March 2022 - Paracetamol and blood pressure, greener inhalers, harms from medicines and naldemedine 22.02.2022

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the March 2022 issue of DTB. They talk about paracetamol and its effect on blood pressure and discuss progress on moving to inhalers that have less of an impact on the environment (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/60/3/34). The editors review a study that examined harms from medicines (https://dt...

Overprescribing, overuse of short-acting beta agonists, inflammatory bowel disease in pregnancy 25.01.2022

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the February 2022 issue of DTB. They talk about some of the details from a national report on overprescribing and discuss its implications (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/60/2/18). The editors review a study that highlighted overprescribing of short-acting beta agonists in people with asthma (h...

January 2022 - Molnupiravir, potentially harmful prescribing and antidepressant withdrawal reactions 18.12.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the January 2022 issue of DTB. They discuss the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's decision to license the oral antiviral drug molnupiravir (Lagevrio) and the paucity of publicly available clinical trial data - https://dtb.bmj.com/content/60/1/2. The editors talk about...

Dec 2021 - Overprescribing, BP monitor accuracy, topical steroids, and bremelanotide and flibanserin 22.11.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the December issue of DTB. They discuss a recently published national report on overprescribing of medicines. The editors talk about a study that assessed the accuracy of home blood pressure monitors (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/12/179) and highlight a safety alert on topical steroid with...

November 2021 - Drugs to avoid, penicillin allergy and a new drug for osteoporosis 24.10.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the November issue of DTB. They discuss a French initiative that identifies a range of drugs that should not be prescribed (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/11/162) and talk about the difficulty of assessing whether patients' penicillin allergy records are correct (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/...

October 2021 - Desogestrel POM to P, PCI in stable IHD, and migraine in pregnancy 29.09.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the October issue of DTB. They discuss the impact of making desogestrel contraceptives available for purchase from pharmacies (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/10/146) and talk about the role of percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with stable ischaemic heart disease (https://dtb.bmj...

September 2021: Aducanumab for Alzheimer’s, antibiotics, shared-decision making, and dental health 23.08.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the September issue of DTB. They discuss the US FDA's controversial decision to license aducanumab for Alzheimer's disease (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/9/130) and consider barriers to prescribing shorter courses of antibiotics in primary care (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/9/131). The ed...

August 2021. Community pharmacy discharge medicines service: a step towards improved patient safety? 26.07.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the August issue of DTB (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/8). The editors talk about the MHRA's decision to reverse the EMA's decision and allow boron-containing chloramphenicol eye drops to be used in children aged below 2 years. They discuss a scheme in England that allows hospital staff to...

July 2021 - Chloramphenicol eye drops, boron, infants and fertility 23.06.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the July issue of DTB. The editors catch up on developments with proposals for all doctors in the UK to provide financial and non-financial declarations of interest. They discuss the problem of boron in chloramphenicol eye drop products and the impact on treating children aged under 2 years...

June 2021 - COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy 24.05.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) review the June issue of DTB. The list of articles mentioned in this podcast: The Editorial “COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy” - https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/6/82 DTB select “Stepping down asthma treatment” - https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/6/85 Review “Prescribing for pregnancy: managing diabetes” - https://dtb...

May 2021 - Time for transparency 26.04.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) review the May issue of DTB. In light of the "First do no harm" report, the editorial discusses the need for a mandatory register of payments made by pharmaceutical and medical device companies to healthcare professionals, healthcare organisations and patient support organisations (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/5...

April 2021 - Asthma, a disease of variability 22.03.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) review the April issue of DTB. The editorial discusses variability in the management of people with severe asthma (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/4/50). The editors talk about a summary of an article on changes in prescribing of statins (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/4/53). The main article explores the use of as...

March 2021 - Opioid safety: striking the right balance 23.02.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) review the March issue of DTB (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/3). The editorial discusses a national safety alert that highlighted the risk of dependence associated with prolonged use of opioids for non-cancer pain and a proposal that all opioid medicines in the UK carry the warning "can cause addiction" (https://...

February 2021 - Why vaccines matter 25.01.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) discuss the February issue of DTB. This includes an editorial that highlights the benefits associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes zoster vaccination programmes (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/early/2021/01/11/dtb.2020.000048). The editors talk about a cohort study, which found that many older peopl...

January 2021 - COVID-19 vaccination: we need more than the ‘mum test’ 04.01.2021

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) discuss the January issue of DTB (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/1). This includes an editorial that highlights the urgent need for more information for the public to support the national COVID-19 vaccination programme (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/59/1/2). The editors talk about the importance of knowing how patie...

COVID-19 vaccines - getting the information right 27.11.2020

In this podcast James Cave (Editor in Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) discuss some of the challenges associated with the national COVID-19 vaccination programme. In particular, they highlight the importance of making information on the vaccines’ safety and efficacy available to help people make an informed decision on vaccination. Read the paper: https://dtb.bmj.com/content/early/202...

December 2020 - Hype and hope of bedtime dosing of antihypertensives 25.11.2020

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) preview the December issue of DTB. This includes an editorial that discusses the results of a study that suggested that people who took antihypertensive medication at bedtime had a lower risk of a cardiovascular event. The editors talk about a threat to the supply of the Priadel brand of lithium carbonate. They al...

November 2020 - Chronic pain (analgesia armageddon) 26.10.2020

In this podcast, James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) preview the November issue of DTB. This includes an editorial that focuses on the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence's draft guideline on the management of chronic pain, and in particular, the approach to treating chronic primary pain (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/58/11/162). The editors talk about a...

October 2020 - Making medicines safer? 28.09.2020

A socially distanced podcast with James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) previewing the October issue of DTB. This includes an editorial that discusses the harms caused by medicines and medical devices and highlights concerns over proposals to speed up the UK licensing process for medicines. The editors talk about an article that looks at the influence of pharmaceutica...

September 2020 - Dilemmas in commissioning biological therapies 24.08.2020

As we continue with our socially distanced DTB podcasts James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) provide an overview of the September issue of DTB. This includes an editorial discussing the challenges facing commissioning organisations when changes to clinical practice or market authorisation have a significant impact on how biological therapies can be used. The editors...

August 2020 - Virtual revolution 27.07.2020

Another socially distanced DTB podcast features James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor) who provide an overview of the August issue of DTB. This includes an editorial discussing the changes that have taken place in general practices and the new ways of working that have been developed during the coronavirus pandemic (https://dtb.bmj.com/content/58/8/114). The main artic...

Low-dose aspirin for prevention of pre-eclampsia: when over the counter just isn’t 22.06.2020

Another socially distanced DTB podcast features James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor), who provide an overview of the July issue of DTB. This includes an editorial that discusses some of the challenges in supplying low-dose aspirin to pregnant women for prevention of pre-eclampsia, a DTB Forum article by Margaret McCartney on some of the challenges to evidence-based m...

Deprescribing in the time of COVID-19 27.05.2020

With the coronavirus pandemic restrictions still in place, this socially distanced DTB podcast features James Cave (Editor-in-Chief) and David Phizackerley (Deputy Editor), who provide an overview of the June issue of DTB. This includes an editorial that discusses whether clinicians should be deprescribing some medicines during the pandemic, and a summary of the EMA's advice on the use of drugs th...

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