Was she digoxin toxic? You bet she was :: Nurse Julie : 6/10/2009 : A wise old pharmacist once said that the most dangerous thing on earth is not a young officer with a map. It's a little old lady in possession of a big smile and a shopping bag full of medications.
That pharmacist was a master of understatement.
Emergency nursing involves a good deal of detective work. For example: 'Sir, have you ever had any surgery?' 'No, dear, I'm very healthy.' 'Excellent, but in that case we need to find the bastard who stole your left leg, because it's missing.' 'Oh, you mean operations!' Yep, that's what I mean. True story, by the way. More... 
Composition of Australian Ginkgo biloba products :: Ken Harvey : 4/10/2009 : In today's AusPharm feature, Ken Harvey takes the TGA to task over its handling of an alleged adulteration rort with ginkgo biloba products.
"What the TGA neglected to point out was that one third of the samples tested had failed the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) identity test for Ginkgo biloba (Test B) because they had ratios of flavonoid components that were consistent with adulteration, not natural variation." More...
Regulating Pharmaceuticals: Healthy Skepticism Seminar :: Ken Harvey : 25/9/2009 : 
Last night, a packed lecture theatre at the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital heard presentations by pharmacists Chris Doecke and Agnes Vitry and medical doctors Ken Harvey (me!) and Peter Mansfield. All speakers emphasised that self-regulation by the pharmaceutical industry was a self-serving and convenient fiction promulgated by industry and government.
It was argued that the current plethora of inconsistent, ineffective and inefficient industry self-regulatory codes and complaint systems must be replaced by a new single system, underpinned by legislation, with sanctions that bite, applicable to all therapeutic claims and promotional activities regardless of the product. More...
Reinventing the (repeat) wheel :: David Haworth : 22/9/2009 : 
30 years on from the introduction of computer generated prescription repeat forms, isn't it about time we had a close look at what's on them? David Haworth thinks so and has put up his new version for comment.
"Simple it may be but it causes unending confusion with our patients. The number of repeats authorised and number of times dispensed might have looked fine to a bureaucrat but we all know that patients find it very confusing....every day. Other things that cause grief are the expiry of scripts and the need to keep them attached to their duplicate. We have legacy fields on the form that are no longer required. All of these issues are easy to remedy." More...
Pharmacy’s failure to take responsibility for Nurofen/Panafen Plus® abuse :: Michael Page : 15/9/2009 : In today's AusPharm feature Mike Page asks the question: do pharmacists need to better exercise their collective professional judgment with ibuprofen/codeine products?
"I was recently told about three patients, all seen at a tertiary hospital in Perth within a three-month period, presenting with the consequences of Nurofen Plus® abuse. These were all related to me by a member of staff who had personally been involved in each case. I wondered if I, as a community pharmacist, had also been unknowingly involved." More...
More on Irish (and Australian) pharmacy :: Bruce Annabel : 2/9/2009 : 
JR Pharmacy Services consultant Bruce Annabel responds to our piece on Irish pharmacy, published yesterdayand, at the same time repeats his call for Australian pharmacies to make 'fundamental and axiomatic changes' to their business models.
"I have some experience of the Irish pharmacy situation having contacts in the industry keeping me informed of developments and having spent a week there eighteen months ago with one of the local pharmacy chains. My job over there was to deliver a message of the alternative model based on a 'Health solution-oriented service' throughout the pharmacy. To date little has changed despite their troubles." More...
Could what happened in Ireland happen here? :: Mark Dunn : 1/9/2009 : 
Some 'listers will have been following recent events in Irish pharmacy - it seems the Irish Government has won its battle of wits (and $$$) with Irish community pharmacies.
The dispute between the Irish government and pharmacy owners began early in 2009 when the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) announced plans to drastically cut the amount it paid to pharmacies for dispensing prescriptions under the Irish community drugs schemes (the equivalent of our PBS). The legislation was signed into law on July 1 and came into effect on August 1. More...
Evidence for MMR benefits grows :: Debbie Rigby : 31/8/2009 : 
The study published in Circulation: Heart Failure last week (here) demonstrated the benefits of HMRs for patients with heart failure. There is a growing body of evidence on the benefits of HMRs and RMMRs in Australia. This comes at an opportune time when both services are under review by the Department of Health and Ageing and negotiations for the 5th Community Pharmacy Agreement commence.
Another article by Australian researchers was published last week in Drugs and Aging (here) on the impact of RMMRs. Prasad Nishtala, Sarah Hilmer, Andrew McLachlan, Paul Hannan and Tim Chen used the Drug Burden Index to demonstrate the benefits of RMMRs. More...
Where was the vision? :: Michael Scavone : 25/8/2009 : In today's feature Michael Scavone asks where the vision was in Guild President Sclavos' recent address to the National Press Club.
"In my view, a great opportunity to advocate for pharmacy reform was missed. What better audience could one have than a large group of journalists waiting to hear from the Guild President about the great benefits pharmacy could bring to health care? Instead, what we heard was what nice, honest people pharmacists are and how willing they are to do things for nothing, because the primary care infrastructure is already there." More...
Pharmacy Women's Congress delivered its promise :: : 18/8/2009 : 
The focus of the congress was ‘Gaining knowledge, sharing experiences, building futures’ and the congress organizing committee certainly delivered a program that did all of this and more.
AusPharm's 'woman on the spot' reports on the weekend's program.
"For anyone who has previously thought that the Pharmacy Women’s Congress is an elitist group of women meeting to dish it to the male race I would strongly suggest that you attend the next congress in August 2010 in Hobart and enjoy the camaraderie and fantastic program that will be on offer." More...
Chlorodyne - Universal Panacea? :: Geoff Miller : 14/8/2009 : 
After we published Murray Felstead's piece about Chlorodyne earlier this week, Geoff Miller, from the Australian Academy of Pharmacy History, got in touch and sent along a piece he'd written for the Academy's Journal a few years back. He's kindly given us permission to reproduce it on AusPharm.
"Gaunter and gaunter grow the soldiers of the Queen. Hunger and disease played havoc with those fine regiments. But somehow the Medical Corps managed to patch the men up with Chlorodyne and Quinine." ( From Cassell's "History of the Boer War") More...
A tale of two women :: Nurse Julie : 11/8/2009 : Introducing Nurse Julie, who's got a tale or two of pharmacy from the outside looking in.
"Two women, at opposite ends of their lives, both battling with the concept of care we are kind enough to offer in the Emergency Department.
Woman number one is a young lady of about eighteen who presented late one evening. She was tentative, and it took some courage for her to explain to me (and thereby to the waiting room at large, thanks to a remarkable acoustic) that she required the morning after pill." More...
Shifting the gears; initiating change :: Frank Morgan : 4/8/2009 : For many pharmacies, these are difficult times. In today's feature, Frank Morgan reminds us all about what you need to do to stand out from the crowd.
Novelist and philosopher Andre Gide once opened a lecture by noting, “All this has been said before, but since nobody listened, it must be said again”. More...
A lot of the hard stuff has already been done for you :: Irwin the evil chemist : 29/7/2009 : As negotiations for the 5th Community Pharmacy Agreement heat up we thought this piece by Irwin the Evil Chemist worth revisiting - it was first published in August 2004.
Oh, and for those of you who've forgotten, we remind you how Irwin got the 'Evil Chemist' moniker.
"We are very, very fortunate that our industry and profession is (for now) insulated. The resources and institutes that exist to keep us afloat are astonishing: wholesalers willing to guarantee our business; a Guild supporting owners and ownership, and fighting the political fight; the various Societies providing training and continuing education. Most customers forgive us our human failings and even keep their custom with us." More...
Don't be a soft target :: : 28/7/2009 : 
AusPharm monitors reports of pharmacy break-ins and robberies across Australia and it seems to us that, lately, the Gold Coast region has been over-represented in our reports. Qld Guild President Tim Logan told us that it would be "fair to say that, as a region, there have been a few more break-ins than one might expect for the Gold Coast. We continue to encourage members to have a good look at their security, minimise stock and use Project Stop, of course."
Our friends at Guild Insurance have also been in touch and have provided us with advice to help ensure that your pharmacy isn't a good target for burglars. More...
‘Real Time Reporting’ of the dispensing of Schedule 8 substances and alprazolam :: : 21/7/2009 : 
The most recent examples of media scrutiny of the 'misuse' of Schedule 8 (and some other) drugs (eg here, here and here) occurred less than two weeks ago following the release of a couple of AIHW reports on medication use in Australia (here and here).
In response to the media hype Guild President Kos Sclavos was quoted as saying that the issue could be “addressed overnight” if the Government agreed to implement the Guild’s new program called ControlledDrugRx. AusPharm's understanding is, however, that ControlledDrugRx is still in the very early stages of development.
A Tasmanian government initiative, already up and running as a pilot in four pharmacies, is showing great promise in dealing with schedule 8 medication misuse. In today's feature, Mary Sharpe, Chief Pharmacist, Pharmaceutical Services Branch of the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services describes their real time reporting project. More...
Getting the best out of our medical and pharmacy resources- are we really using 747s to deliver the milk? :: Ron Batagol : 14/7/2009 : In today's feature Ron Batagol comments on a recent Radio National Life Matters episode and looks at how society might make best use of pharmacists in an increasingly fiscally challenged health system.
"Just as with the prevailing medical practice models, could it be that our pharmacy practice models are also outmoded and not reflective any more of the training, expertise, and even more importantly, the potential health benefits that the community that could derive from better utilisation of its reservoir of highly-trained pharmacists?" More...
Of petrol and the PBS :: Michael Page : 7/7/2009 : In today's feature, Mike Page has a look at the community pharmacy pricing model, comparing it to that of fuel retailers.
"The taxpayer pays once for petrol but twice for PBS-subsidised medicines; firstly in income taxes and secondly at the pharmacy. One would think therefore, that in contrast with the way the fuel retailers operated in the past, the pricing systems used by pharmacies would be clear, logical, consistent and transparent." More...
Pharmacist employee wages – where to now? :: Michael Scavone : 1/7/2009 : Much has been posted on AusPharmList about this subject matter recently. Last week's AusPharm poll indicated 92% pharmacist employee dissatisfaction with the current system. The poll showed that 49% of employees consider their wages dreadful while 43% consider that wages could be better.
Is anyone surprised by this? I believe not!
How did the level of pharmacist employee wages fall so far behind compared to other professions and, historically, even within the profession? In my opinion there are two reasons for this. The first is the existence of a very strong employer focused pro business group, the Pharmacy Guild (PGA) and the second is because the organisation charged with representing pharmacist employees, APESMA, has been relatively ineffectual in the very complex and difficult areas of Industrial Relations (IR). More...
Employee pharmacists' wages and working conditions :: Geoff March : 29/6/2009 : AusPharmList has made fascinating reading in recent weeks as many community pharmacy practitioners struggle with a real sense of frustration around their profession and their own ability to effectively consistently contribute to their patients' health and welfare.
There are two aspects contributing to this frustration; firstly the feeling of a real lack of appreciation of their contribution as evidenced by the angst over remuneration and working conditions; and secondly about the continuing focus on a supply model for community pharmacy and the refusal of the Guild to break free of this “old thinking” practice model. More...
