Pharmacist amongst 100 honoured indigenous women : 17/02/2011 :

Faye McMillan, pharmacist and President of Indigenous Allied Health Australia, has been selected amongst 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to be honoured in the 100 years celebrations of International Women’s Day (8th March). The women are being honoured for their unique strengths and leadership qualities – women who have made a difference and who will continue to inspire others.

Faye's interest in pharmacy began when she was a pharmacy assistant in Trangie, near Dubbo in central NSW. She went on to complete a pharmacy degree at Charles Sturt University in 2001 and was the first Aboriginal person in Australia to gain a pharmacy degree and to go onto registration as a pharmacist.

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Consumers: Testing of complementary medicines - public has a right to know : 16/02/2011 :

According to peak consumer group, the Consumer Health Forum (CHF), while the term “complementary medicines” is in common use, labels using words like “natural” can construct and feed a perception that they are “harmless” and “healthy”, while disguising the fact that these products ARE actually medicines and should be treated as such.

CHF says that, while consumers generally know that prescription medicines have been through a process of rigorous testing to ensure they are safe and do what they say they will, they do not know that the same cannot be said about the 10,000 plus complementary medicines listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.

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AusPharm CE: Update on calcium : 16/02/2011 :

The next AusPharm CE topic for 2011 is Update on calcium - it's been put together for us by Debbie Rigby.

This CPD article provides an update of calcium and the latest clinical controversies on its safety and efficacy.

Click here to do this Continuing Education activity. Or, if you prefer, you might like to take a look at our other CE activities here .

AusPharm gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided by the sponsors of our CE program, MIMS.

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Need assistance to attend a CE event? : 16/02/2011 :

Griffith University’s School of Pharmacy has developed a Course in Integrative Medicine providing pharmacy practitioners with additional knowledge and skills to deliver evidence-based complementary medicine information to their patients and customers. Three weekend courses (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane) have been scheduled to run between April and July 2011.

Pharmacists from rural areas should consider applying for “Rural and Remote Continuing Pharmacy Education (CPE) Allowance” to allow them to attend the Course.

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Who's going to the TGA Transparency Review meetings? : 16/02/2011 :

As we reported recently the Panel undertaking the Review to Improve Transparency of the TGA is conducting a series of public meetings as part of the review.

The meetings will be held in Sydney, Albury, Melbourne and Perth during February and March, however, as they are all scheduled during business hours, AusPharm understands that industry registrations currently predominate. It would be a pity if health professionals, including pharmacists, and consumers are not represented at the meetings in order to provide some balancing input.

If any pharmacists are considering attending, this story, published in The Age last week may be of interest.

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Poll: price of 100 Panamax : 16/02/2011 :

There have been a number of posts in recent times on AusPharmList about the price of 100 x Panamax. This January item was about a Chemist Warehouse special that saw the product offered for 39c.

Let's see if we can find out what the going price is around the country. Please let us know by ticking the relevant box in today's AusPharm poll.

What does the pharmacy you work in charge for 100 Panamax?

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New addition to the Mirixa stable : 16/02/2011 :

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), in support of the quality use of medicines and development of pharmacy professional services, is backing Mirixa Australia’s MedScreen program suite.  

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Mens sana* - a new series on topics in mental health : 15/02/2011 :

Tomorrow on AusPharm we'll be publishing the first in a new series of articles on mental health, authored by Associate Professor Chris Alderman  .

Dr Alderman has specialist qualifications in psychiatry and geriatrics. He has over 20 years experience in these fields and has authored nearly 100 associated journal publications and book chapters.

His expertise is primarily in the field of psychiatric illnesses, including depression, schizophrenia and other psychosis, substance abuse and anxiety disorders.

The topic of the first article is Traumatic times will touch the lives of pharmacists

"In the wake of floods and the aftermath of Cyclone Yasi in Queensland, and devastating bushfires in Victoria and Western Australia, the lives of many Australians have been changed forever."

Watch this space tomorrow.....

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Did you st*ff up and let your registration lapse? : 15/02/2011 :

If you did the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency has issued further advice on what you need to do to get yourself re-registered.

Click here.

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Postscript: Greenwood vs Barnes on ownership - one possible path to ownership for young pharmacists : 15/02/2011 :

Two weeks ago AusPharm published an article from former Guild Executive Director Stephen Greenwood  that was critical of 2000 National Competition Policy Review of Pharmacy Legislation co-author's Terry Barnes' recent media comments that his views of ownership have changes since the review. Last week we published a response from Mr Barnes .

In the weeks, months and years prior to this there has been much discussion on AusPharmList of the difficulties young pharmacists in particular face in getting into pharmacy ownership. One point that hasn't been made in recent list discussion on ownership issues is that the 2000 Review canvassed a solution to this, published in an appendix to the Review.

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PSA: Health reform better for patients and primary care : 15/02/2011 :

The agreement reached between the States and Territories and the Federal Government to progress the health-reform agenda has a welcome focus on keeping people out of hospitals, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia says.

Acting President of the PSA, Grant Kardachi, said pharmacists had long played a pivotal role in providing primary and preventive care, and the new health  reform agreement would provide opportunities for these services to be provided in a more structured and co-ordinated manner.

“Pharmacists are the most accessible health professionals and consumers can walk in and talk to their pharmacist about a wide range of health issues without the need in most cases to make an appointment or wait a long time,” Mr Kardachi said.

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NSW PSA President praises Opposition committment : 15/02/2011 :

President of the NSW Branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Peter Gissing, has praised the NSW Opposition's $10 million committment to community pharmacy should it win the upcoming NSW state election.

Among the programs under the $10 million plan are moves to reduce hospital admissions and also readmissions following hospital discharge.

“The plan to cut readmissions involves the use of a Home Medicines Review,” Mr Gissing said. "It is refreshing to see this and other PSA initiatives included in a strategic plan aimed at improving long-term health benefits," he added.

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Bonjela: safe when used as directed : 15/02/2011 :

Bonjela manufacturers Reckitt Benckiser issued a statement yesterday pointing out that the recent call from doctors to review labeling on teething gels is in relation to two specific examples of extreme overuse of teething gel, over an extended period of time – and does not apply to general use of teething gels.

The company says that Bonjela (87 mg/g of choline salicylate) has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)and that current product labeling meets all of the regulator’s compliance guidelines. Any changes to this labeling would only take place, following review and advice from the TGA, it says.

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FDA acts to 'reduce risk' with paracetamol : 14/02/2011 :

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has moved to 'reduce the risk of severe liver injury associated with acetaminophen [paracetamol]' by reducing the allowable tablet content in prescription products containing paracetamol from 500mg to 325mg.

The FDA has also required that a Boxed Warning be placed on all prescription paracetamol products that highlights the potential risk for severe liver injury. Boxed Warnings are FDA's strongest warnings for prescription drug products, used for calling attention to serious or life-threatening risks.

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Wet weather prolongs Australia’s allergy season : 14/02/2011 :

People with asthma and allergy are being warned that recent wet weather across Australia may trigger unseasonable hay fever like symptoms due to the extended grass growing season and the potential for mould build up in and around homes. 

For these people, relief often comes in the form of a nasal inhaler spray to alleviate allergy symptoms - but, the National Asthma Council Australia believes many people are not receiving maximum relief from their inhaler due to poor user technique.

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PSA: pharmacists can help in preventive health : 14/02/2011 :

The federal government's renewed focus on identifying and tackling health problems in the community as part of its refined health-care reform package has been welcomed by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. Acting PSA President, Grant Kardachi, said pharmacists were ideally placed to play a pivotal role in addressing health issues in the community.

"Pharmacists are the most accessible health-care professionals and see consumers, on average, more than any other health professional," Mr Kardachi said.

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NSW Libs promise support for community pharmacy : 14/02/2011 :

In the leadup to the NSW state election, the NSW Liberal and National parties have committed $10 million to a range of health initiatives involving community pharmacy.

According to NSW Deputy Opposition Leader and Shadow Minister for Health Jillian Skinner, "We will be building on the trusted relationship people have with their local pharmacist to encourage them to have basic tests which may provide early identification and then ongoing management of major health issues and chronic disease."

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RGH E-Bulletin 41-3: Nightmares and sleep disturbance with statins : 14/02/2011 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is Nightmares and sleep disturbance with statins.

"There have been a number of reports in the literature of sleep disturbance or nightmares related to the use of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins), most commonly with the more lipophilic agents. In one report, a 72 year old woman taking atorvastatin experienced nightmares 5 days after initiation of the drug. These disappeared on cessation and recurred on rechallenge, correlating to a “definite causality” according to the Naranjo probability scale (refer E-Bulletin 20-11)."

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

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Photo of the week: DHA Eucresol Lamp : 11/02/2011 :

All the talk of Cresol (a phenol) I looked up at the top shelf in the dispensary where I am at and grabbed a wonderful triangular box with a triangular lid and inside is an original........

DHA Eucresol Lamp!

The blurb reads "It has long been acknowledged that the most efficacious treatment of Whooping cough is by the inhalation of certain antiseptic preparations used in a vapourised condition, the most useful of which is DHA Eucresol embrocation

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Watch out for scammers : 11/02/2011 :

Here is a fax received in pharmacies this week that looks like it's trying to pull the same 'I'd like to buy 30 blood pressure monitors' scam a 'lister alerted us to in a recent post to AusPharmList.

The phone/fax number on the top looks like a phone number in New South Wales, but is actually a number you can buy from Skype and then use anywhere in the world - gives some authenticity to the fax - which it certainly needs.

We're told that the quality of the fax is not much better than this scanned image - a pretty poor job really, so don't be taken by it.

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