Controlled Drug in the United Kingdom classification of medicines. Special responsibilities are placed upon pharmaceutical wholesalers, pharmacies and doctors in the stocking, distribution, issuing of prescriptions, supply and disposal of items listed under the first three of the schedules. The regulations have been further tightened since Dr Harold Shipman used diamorphine to murder hundreds of his patients during the late 20th century. Drugs which are not used medically, and thus their possession and supply is prohibited; e.g. cannabis and LSD except when licensed by the Home Office to carry out research. Substances subject to the full controlled drug requirements; e.g. diamorphine (heroin), pethidine, cocaine, methadone, methylphenidate,
Analgesic nephropathy other regions the condition persists. Notably, in Belgium, the prevalence of analgesic nephropathy among people having dialysis was 17.9% in 1984 and 15.6% in 1990. Michielsen and de Schepper suggest that analgesic nephropathy persists among people in Belgium having dialysis not due to non-phenacetin analgesics, but because Belgium accepts a higher proportion of elderly people for dialysis. According to these authors, a greater proportion have analgesic nephropathy because a greater percentage of people in Belgium having dialysis have been exposed to long-term use of phenacetin. The term "analgesic nephropathy" usually refers to damage induced by excessive use of combinations of