Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Diagonal Method to Measure Synergy Among Any Number of Drugs
Published on: June 21, 2018
Controlled drugs and the principle of double effect
1School of Health Science, Swansea University. richard.griffith@swan.ac.uk
Abstract:
The role of district nurses in the effective management of pain in palliative care has been strengthened by recent amendments to the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Regulations 2005 that allow district nurses who are independent or supplementary prescribers to prescribe and administer controlled drugs. However, the right to prescribe controlled drugs also brings increased responsibility and accountability for the safe management of these medicines. In this article Richard Griffith outlines the changes to the law relating to controlled drugs and calls for a clarification of the principle of double effect, to ensure patients in intractable pain receive the analgesia they require to manage their pain and district nurses avoid liability and prosecution under the law of murder.
Related Concept Videos
Drug Regulation
Drug Classes and Categories
Effects of Chemicals: Overview
Principles of Drug Action
Drugs can be agonists or antagonists. Like the endogenous ligands, agonists always bind and activate the target to produce a cellular response. Agonist binding induces a conformational change which in turn...
Drug Control Governance: Regulatory Bodies and Their Impact
Pharmacodynamics: Overview and Principles
Most drugs' effects result from their interactions with drug receptors or targets within the body. These interactions trigger specific responses at the cellular or systemic level. Drug receptors can be found on the surfaces of cells or within...

