Pharmacies are reporting widespread shortages of a commonly-used drug in Britain leaving patients at risk of stroke and heart attack. Pharmacists say it is “madness” that the NHS prescribing system is preventing them from switching prescriptions for suitable blood thinning alternatives to aspirin. As well as a common painkiller, aspirin is also a blood thinner taken by a third of women and 45% of men aged over 65. A National Pharmacy Association (NPA) survey of 540 UK community chemists reveals