Wholesalers keep the pressure on : 01/07/2011 :

Australia’s CSO distributors have united in their call for a stop to the exclusive distribution of PBS medicines. Pfizer became the first pharma company to go to a direct to pharmacy distribution model, bypassing the wholesalers, on February 1 this year.

National and State-based CSO wholesalers Symbion, Sigma, Australian Pharmaceutical Industries, National Pharmacies and Central Healthcare Services have joined together as signatories to a communiqué, which aims to get the Federal government to ban exlusive distribution arrangements for PBS listed drugs.

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Pharmacists vote 2:1 against direct to consumer S3 ads : 01/07/2011 :

In the context of a call by PSA President Warwick Plunkett  this week for an overhaul of the advertising rules for schedule 3 products, this week's AusPharm poll asked 'listers whether or not they thought direct to consumer advertising of S3s was a good idea.

Respondents to our poll voted 2:1 against the notion with most of those against having an in principle opposition (45% of total --> No, potent therapeutic products, be they S3 or S4, shouldn't be advertised) rather than a practical one (18% of total --> No way, too hard to say no to inappropriate requests for a particular product).

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Pharmacy Expo 2011 a hit : 30/06/2011 :

Thousands of pharmacists went along to the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre over 3 days in June to attend Pharmacy Expo 2011.

Exhibitors, sponsors and speakers all contributed to creating a welcoming environment for the thousands of industry visitors who attended.

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Diabetes associated with poor mental health and wellbeing : 30/06/2011 :

Australians with diabetes have a higher prevalence of poor mental health and wellbeing than those without diabetes, according to a report released last wekk by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The report, Diabetes and poor mental health and wellbeing: an exploratory analysis, shows that a significantly higher proportion of adults with diabetes had medium, high or very high levels of psychological distress compared with other Australians.

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Poll: S3 products should be able to be advertised direct to consumer : 29/06/2011 :

In yesterday's AusPharm PSA President Warwick Plunkett argued  that direct to consumer advertising for ALL Schedule 3 products should be allowed with the caveat that the guidelines would need to be rewritten to ensure that the advertising content is information-based with relevant warnings and restrictions included.

What do you think? Should direct to consumer advertising of ALL Schedule 3 products be allowed on this basis? Please let us know what you think by voting in this week's AusPharm poll.

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Pfizer teams with UQ to develop next generation medicines : 29/06/2011 :

The University of Queensland yesterday announced that two of its leading researchers have teamed with pharma company Pfizer in a project that aims to to develop new peptide-based medicines for the treatment of major diseases.

Professors David Craik and David Fairlie from the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) have received $2.5 million from the Australian Research Council (ARC) to partner with Pfizer, who are contributing $2.4 million, to develop a new generation of medicines.

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Scholarships help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pharmacy students : 29/06/2011 :

The recipients of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Scholarship Scheme (ATSIPSS) scholarships for 2011 have been announced. 
 
Three students from across the country have been awarded scholarships and each will receive up to $60,000 during their time at university. The recipients are Tamika Hagan (University of Newcastle), Thomas Mylne (University of Queensland) and Shannon Unsworth (University of New England).

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PHARMeFOOTY weekly wrap : 29/06/2011 :

AFL Round 14

AFL Round 14 saw 3 tippers select all 8 winners. Sharron Hunt from Torrens Road Gordon had the best margin tip and takes the weekly win. In 2nd place was David Taggart from Scarborough Beach Pharmacy with Stuart Brett of Fred Health in 3rd position.

NRL Round 16

NRL Round 16 was tough for tippers with 7 from 8 being the best tipping score. Again the result came down to cumulative margin with A Wong from Lakeside Pharmacy taking first place. In 2nd spot was Ramez Mikhail of Yankalilla Pharmacy with Keith Gael of Priceline Pharmacy Cessnock in 3rd position.

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Sensaslim company under seige : 29/06/2011 :

'Listers will have seen our recent links to media reports of the legal case brought against the Sensaslim company by the ACCC for 'Misleading or deceptive conduct'. This action has been widely covered in the mainstream media (eg here and here) and also in the not so mainstream media (here). 

AusPharm understands that the ACCC claimed in the Federal Court that the 'Institute' said to have conducted the research underpinning the therapeutic claims made for the product does not exist. The Federal Court froze one of the company's bank accounts and, in order to do that, the ACCC had to prove that there was a strong indication of illegal conduct by SensaSlim.

In light of all this AusPharm this week put a series of questions to the TGA.

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Generics industry to launch brand campaign into pharmacy : 28/06/2011 :

This week the Generic Medicines Industry Association (GMiA) will launch a campaign to pharmacy highlighting who are the members of GMiA and what membership with GMiA represents.

The campaign, to be delivered by the representatives of member companies, will explain to pharmacists that GMiA is a representative body of generic medicine suppliers in Australia. The message GMiA aims to sell to pharmacy is that its members ensure that all Australians are offered the highest quality generic medicines in the world whilst providing affordable community health outcomes that benefit all Australians.

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WA pharmacist wins QUM award : 28/06/2011 :

West Australian pharmacist Penny Tuffin has been named as the 2011 recipient of the PSA Award for QUM in Pain Management. The award, sponsored by Mundipharma, recognises an exceptional and outstanding contribution to the quality use of medicines through direct clinical care of consumers suffering from persistent pain.
 
Commenting on the award, National President of the PSA, Warwick Plunkett, said the National Pain Strategy released last year has stated that one in five Australians, including children and adolescents, will suffer chronic pain in their lifetime and up to 80 per cent of people living with chronic pain are missing out on treatment that could improve their health and quality of life.

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The Guild can accredit CPD too : 28/06/2011 :

Yesterday we ran a news item about the ACP and SHPA being approved to accredit pharmacist CPD which included the statement that "To date, only the Pharmaceutical
Society of Australia has been able to accredit CPD for pharmacists."

This is incorrect (the mistake was AusPharm's, not APC's who issued the media release on which the news item was based). The Pharmacy Guild is also an authorised accreditor of CPD and was initially approved to perform this role in September 2010.

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Pharmacists on the Skilled Occupation List - an explanation from the horse's mouth : 28/06/2011 :

AusPharm was yesterday provided with a copy of a document, authored by Skills Australia, that details the rationale for including pharmacists on the 2011 Skilled Occupation List (SOL).

Here it is, in full below. 'Listers might also want to take a look at this 'Pharmacists' information document, from the Skills Australia website, that provides a quick analysis of the pharmacy workforce.

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Anticholinergics, elderly patients and risk of death : 27/06/2011 :

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society concludes that taking certain combinations of anticholinergic drugs significiantly increases the risk of death in elderly patients.

The study has attracted widespread international media coverage over the last week,  presumably based on a media release put out by the researchers' university.

Oddly, media outlets in Australia don't seem to have picked up the story.

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TGA on CSL: we're watching too : 27/06/2011 :

Following last week's FDA 'warning letter' to CSL in relation to CSL's handling of concerns about the quality of its influenza vaccine, Australia's own regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, put out a statement on Friday saying that it regularly audits CSL.

The TGA said that it audits CSL annually and, in addition, has undertaken five separate audits of CSL in the last 12 months following a higher than average rate of adverse reactions in children immunised with CSL's flu vaccine 'Fluvax' in 2010.

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NAPSA establishes Future Fund : 27/06/2011 :

Conceived out of a desire to secure the National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association (NAPSA) financial position into the future, and to facilitate further educational opportunities for members, the Association has established a Future Fund.

The Fund's aim is to foster the growth and experience of students prior to them entering the workforce.

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ACP and SHPA now also able to accredit CPD : 27/06/2011 :

The Australian College of Pharmacy (ACP) and the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) have both been authorised to accredit continuing professional development (CPD) for pharmacists under the auspices of the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC).

The APC has been authorised by the Pharmacy Board of Australia to enable appropriate organisations to accredit CPD on its behalf. To date, only the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has been able to accredit CPD for pharmacists.

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SIGMA appoints new General Manager : 27/06/2011 :

SIGMA pharmaceuticals has appointed Gary Dunne as its new General Manager of Healthcare.

Mr Dunne will lead the company's core operations of Retail, Wholesale, Logistics and Supply Chain. Mr Dunne has previously held senior management positions with Redgroup, Clive Peeters, Coles, Woolworths and ALDI.

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RGH E-Bulletin: Synthetic cannabinoid products : 27/06/2011 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is Synthetic cannabinoid products.

"The use of synthetic cannabinoid products has recently become increasingly popular as an alternative to marijuana, being promoted as ‘legal herbal mixtures.’ While the ingredients of these products are not explicitly revealed in any source, packaging information on the products claim that they are a combination of dried and ground herb and plant material (as many as 14 different ingredients), which is sprayed with synthetic cannabinoid or cannabinoidmimetic substances, and then packaged and marketed as incense."

Click here to read the bulletin in full. The E‑Bulletins are archived on the AusPharmList website here.

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Great Opportunities for ECPs at PAC11 : 27/06/2011 :

Early Career Pharmacists have two weeks to take advantage of the PAC11 Early Bird Savings which end on July 4.
 
PAC11 has a range of special sessions and other activities targeted to help ECPs kick start their careers and substantially improve their skills and knowledge base.

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