Cathy Cooke
@cathycooke.bsky.social
Interested in almost everything. Learn from the past, or repeatedly make the same mistakes | Retired pharmacist, FRPharmS HonFFFLM
Who didn’t see that coming?
Children are now using e-cigarettes at higher rates than adults.
Tom Gatehouse and colleagues argue for an approach to regulation that prioritises children’s rights and protects them
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
Tom Gatehouse and colleagues argue for an approach to regulation that prioritises children’s rights and protects them
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
November 15, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Who didn’t see that coming?
MHRA-led study reveals major inconsistencies in global microbiome research www.gov.uk/government/n...
MHRA-led study reveals major inconsistencies in global microbiome research
International collaboration establishes new quality standards to improve reliability of gut health studies – improving accuracy to provide better diagnosis and treatment.
www.gov.uk
November 15, 2025 at 1:53 PM
MHRA-led study reveals major inconsistencies in global microbiome research www.gov.uk/government/n...
Have we sorted out the nuclear fuel waste storage issue yet?
US ‘disappointed’ that Rolls-Royce will build UK’s first small modular reactors
US ‘disappointed’ that Rolls-Royce will build UK’s first small modular reactors
As Keir Starmer announces SMRs to be built in Wales, US ambassador says Britain should choose ‘a different path’
Keir Starmer has announced that the UK’s first small modular nuclear reactors will be built in north Wales – but immediately faced a backlash from Donald Trump’s administration after it pushed for a US manufacturer to be chosen.
Wylfa on the island of Anglesey, or Ynys Môn, will be home to three small modular reactors (SMRs) to be built by British manufacturer Rolls-Royce SMR. The government said it will invest £2.5bn. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Have we sorted out the nuclear fuel waste storage issue yet?
You couldn't make it up...
November 12, 2025 at 7:34 PM
You couldn't make it up...
😂
Entertaining myself with the definition of 'pet' being inserted by the Renters Rights Act 2025.
Probably should add:
'(e) Fear of retribution from the animal if otherwise'
to cover most cats
Probably should add:
'(e) Fear of retribution from the animal if otherwise'
to cover most cats
November 12, 2025 at 7:29 PM
😂
No wonder they’re a bit laissez faire about the alleged inappropriate behaviours of politicians and celebrities😏
Did you know that we allow child marriage in the US? We do, in 34 states, and four or five children are being married every day on average. I once met a Floridian married at 11 to her rapist. And California has no minimum age at all for marriage: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/o...
Opinion | Why Do We Allow Child Marriage in America?
www.nytimes.com
November 1, 2025 at 3:32 PM
No wonder they’re a bit laissez faire about the alleged inappropriate behaviours of politicians and celebrities😏
Yes
Britain would do well to remember where its power over China lies | Simon Jenkins
Britain would do well to remember where its power over China lies | Simon Jenkins
It’s ridiculous for the government to splurge on defence while it slashes spending on its most valuable asset: culture, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins
www.theguardian.com
October 30, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Yes
Reposted by Cathy Cooke
The book that many publishers said people wouldn't read because it was about women and ultra endurance has just been shortlisted for Sports Book of the Year. Yes, @emmajourno.bsky.social and I are feeling smug this morning. Just shows how good women are at persisting against patriarchal nonsense...
October 30, 2025 at 9:14 AM
The book that many publishers said people wouldn't read because it was about women and ultra endurance has just been shortlisted for Sports Book of the Year. Yes, @emmajourno.bsky.social and I are feeling smug this morning. Just shows how good women are at persisting against patriarchal nonsense...
Reposted by Cathy Cooke
You would think politicians would have learned that the very worst thing you can say if you're caught up in a potential scandal is "this matter is now closed so we can all move on". It always comes across as arrogant and evasive, and it never ever ever ever EVER turns out to be true.
October 30, 2025 at 10:57 AM
You would think politicians would have learned that the very worst thing you can say if you're caught up in a potential scandal is "this matter is now closed so we can all move on". It always comes across as arrogant and evasive, and it never ever ever ever EVER turns out to be true.
Taking the USA back to 1776
October 25, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Taking the USA back to 1776
Walking trip around Split this morning on the way to Brač.
Pretty!
Pretty!
October 10, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Walking trip around Split this morning on the way to Brač.
Pretty!
Pretty!
Reposted by Cathy Cooke
When are we going to learn that #medicines are not the answer to everything. It’s like tightening a screw to fix a collapsing bridge & spending most of our £ on the screw. Some are life changing (very rarely), some help but only if we address other issues, some do nothing & at worst some cause harm
A 2025 review in the Lancet (www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... shows that our current spending on new medicines skews overall health spend away from more effective interventions. But it looks like we are about to spend more on meds, thus depriving our population of more effective healthcare.
October 8, 2025 at 10:23 PM
When are we going to learn that #medicines are not the answer to everything. It’s like tightening a screw to fix a collapsing bridge & spending most of our £ on the screw. Some are life changing (very rarely), some help but only if we address other issues, some do nothing & at worst some cause harm
Of course they don’t, there’s a difference between gaining a prescribing qualification and securing a role with an agreed prescribing function and budget
Exclusive: Responses to #ThePJ 2025 salary survey have revealed that less than half of pharmacists who can prescribe do so daily
#independentprescribing #ukpharmacy
buff.ly/Vg8uDGU
#independentprescribing #ukpharmacy
buff.ly/Vg8uDGU
Less than half of pharmacists who can prescribe do so daily
Just under half (48%) of pharmacists who hold an independent prescribing (IP) qualification use it daily, responses to The Pharmaceutical Journal 2025 salary survey suggest. Of the 581 pharmacists…
pharmaceutical-journal.com
October 8, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Of course they don’t, there’s a difference between gaining a prescribing qualification and securing a role with an agreed prescribing function and budget
Reposted by Cathy Cooke
🆕 With how much the NHS pays for new branded medicines in the news, @sallygainsbury.bsky.social & Huseyin Naci describe the role of price controls in balancing demands on the NHS budget – and why the government should stand firm in not weakening those controls. tinyurl.com/53xcpcbb
The tough choices at the heart of the government’s dispute with big pharma
The government has been locked in a dispute with pharmaceutical companies for a number of months over how much the NHS pays for new branded medicines. Sally Gainsbury and Huseyin Naci set out the issu...
tinyurl.com
October 8, 2025 at 1:43 PM
🆕 With how much the NHS pays for new branded medicines in the news, @sallygainsbury.bsky.social & Huseyin Naci describe the role of price controls in balancing demands on the NHS budget – and why the government should stand firm in not weakening those controls. tinyurl.com/53xcpcbb
Reposted by Cathy Cooke
Policymaking - developing and agreeing policies, and then implementing them - is difficult, but plenty of people (increasingly) confuse it with "coming up with ideas for policies" which is, indeed, very easy. Same philosophy that says that announcing the thing is the same as doing the thing
Someone who thinks 'policymaking is generally not very complicated' either does not know what they are talking about or has very strong ideological leanings that help disappear the trade-offs that worry the rest of us.
Good thing he has a high quality team of thoughtful people with a firm grasp of the issues and how complex governing is
October 6, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Policymaking - developing and agreeing policies, and then implementing them - is difficult, but plenty of people (increasingly) confuse it with "coming up with ideas for policies" which is, indeed, very easy. Same philosophy that says that announcing the thing is the same as doing the thing
View from the hotel room in lovely Croatia. Looking forward to total relaxation
October 6, 2025 at 4:12 PM
View from the hotel room in lovely Croatia. Looking forward to total relaxation
Prepping to go on holiday, and I'm on schedule
a cartoon cat wearing a pink scarf and sweater
ALT: a cartoon cat wearing a pink scarf and sweater
media.tenor.com
October 5, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Prepping to go on holiday, and I'm on schedule
Reposted by Cathy Cooke
Reposted by Cathy Cooke
I heard someone refer to him as "Dunning Kruger" & it's so perfect 👌
September 27, 2025 at 11:55 AM
I heard someone refer to him as "Dunning Kruger" & it's so perfect 👌
Reposted by Cathy Cooke
I've had three types of cake so far today and I feel SICK
September 24, 2025 at 1:48 PM
I've had three types of cake so far today and I feel SICK
Depends what's in the Standard Operating Procedure that you both signed...
I had sex with another man while my husband slept. Is he right to be furious?
I had sex with another man while my husband slept. Is he right to be furious?
We recently began exploring group sex. But he insists I crossed a line one morning, and is punishing me with silence and distance
www.theguardian.com
September 23, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Depends what's in the Standard Operating Procedure that you both signed...
USA, you're making yourself look really silly on a number of fronts.
September 23, 2025 at 2:43 PM
USA, you're making yourself look really silly on a number of fronts.
Reposted by Cathy Cooke
publications.aap.org/pediatrics/a...
Turns out that social media influencer promotion of food affects children’s food intake
Influencer marketing of unhealthy foods increased children’s immediate food intake
Who'd have thought
Turns out that social media influencer promotion of food affects children’s food intake
Influencer marketing of unhealthy foods increased children’s immediate food intake
Who'd have thought
Social Media Influencer Marketing and Children’s Food Intake: A Randomized Trial
In this study, we examine the impact of influencer marketing of foods (healthy and unhealthy), via popular YouTube vloggers on social media, on children’s food intake.
publications.aap.org
September 20, 2025 at 4:42 PM
publications.aap.org/pediatrics/a...
Turns out that social media influencer promotion of food affects children’s food intake
Influencer marketing of unhealthy foods increased children’s immediate food intake
Who'd have thought
Turns out that social media influencer promotion of food affects children’s food intake
Influencer marketing of unhealthy foods increased children’s immediate food intake
Who'd have thought