Seven days in medicine: 4-10 October 2023
BMJ 2023; 383 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p2335 (Published 12 October 2023) Cite this as: BMJ 2023;383:p2335
Tobacco control
England plans to raise legal age of purchase each year
The UK government tabled plans to raise the legal age for buying cigarettes in England by one year every year, so that children who turn 14 this year will never legally be sold a cigarette. Proposed legislation to create a “smoke-free generation,” announced on 4 October by the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, will make it an offence for anyone born from 1 January 2009 to be sold tobacco products—effectively raising the legal smoking age by a year each year until it applies to the whole population. (Full story doi:10.1136/bmj.p2297)
Mental health
National emergency “needs to be reprioritised”
A continuing lack of resourcing for mental health services has left them overwhelmed, and other services such as emergency departments are left to cope with patients who cannot find other help, health leaders warned the NHS Confederation, which represents providers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This leaves thousands of patients stranded in hospitals waiting for housing and social care packages, which delays treatment for patients with physical conditions. Leaders called for mental health to be reprioritised and for the implementation of the clinically led review of standards for mental health, which includes emergency department related mental health targets.
Obesity drugs
GLP-1 agonists are linked to adverse GI events
The use of GLP-1 agonists was associated with increased risk of pancreatitis (adjusted …
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