Medicines Australia awards scholarship for HPV vaccine research : 25/08/2010 :

The pharmaceutical industry association, Medicines Australia, has awarded a $15 000 HPV vaccine research scholarship to UNSW medical student, Dr Holly Seale.

Dr Seale will use the scholarship to research knowledge of the human papillomavirus (HPV) and attitudes towards HPV immunisation among young people with poor immune systems and their carers.

MA chief executive Dr Brendan Shaw said the aim of the scholarship was to advance research in an arena of public health that brings an enormous health benefit to all Australians.

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Independent patient information published on Januvia and Galvus : 25/08/2010 :

Two independent reviews on Januvia (sitagliptin) and Galvus (vildagliptin) have been published in plain language for type 2 diabetes patients, by the NPS.

The reviews appear in the August 2010 edition of Medicines Update, and explain who the medicines are suitable for, how they work, ways in which they differ from existing medicines for type 2 diabetes and possible side effects.

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Workshop on new technique of motivational interviewing of patients : 25/08/2010 :

Motivational interviewing techniques for helping patients manage behaviour or lifestyle changes to improve health outcomes will be workshopped at this year's PAC in Melbourne on Sat 30 October.

Motivational interviewing is a relatively new concept to pharmacy; it was originally developed in the early 1980s and has been adapted and used in many health-care settings, ranging from alcohol addiction to assisting with medication adherence.

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Poll: Personal experience with OTC codeine-containing analgesics : 25/08/2010 :

It's tough to ignore anecdotal evidence sometimes. Pharmacists, just as much as anyone else, have personal experience of how well analgesics work for them. Sometimes the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of a medicine from personal experience(s) is at odds with known evidence. This has been discussed recently on AusPharmlist with a number of pharmacists sharing their personal successes with various OTC pain relief products that the evidence or the authorities indicate does not warrant the indication.

AusPharm is curious to gauge the breadth of this type of "n=1" experience amongst pharmacists in using OTC codeine-containing compound analgesics rather than plain NSAIDS or paracetamol.

Vote in this week's poll to let us know whether you've used a combination OTC codeine analgesic and felt it to be more effective due to the codeine content.

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PHARMeFOOTY weekly wrap : 25/08/2010 :

NRL Round 24 saw just one tipster select all 8 winners correctly. Nhung Huynh of Torrens Road Gordon had the perfect round and wins the weekly prize, great work Nhung. In 2nd place was Kellie Baker from APHS with Paula Oliver of Hurstbridge taking 3rd spot.

AFL Round 21 went well for tipsters with 15 selecting all 8 winners. Tim Norton of David and Ingrid Norton's was closest to the margin and wins the weekly prize, well done Tim. In 2nd place was Paul Hunter from Creswick Pharmacy with Jack Cooper of Barry Dobyn Pharmacy in 3rd spot.

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Monash students win comp for pharmacy entrepreneurship : 24/08/2010 :

A team of four Monash University pharmacy students have pipped Griffith and Sydney Universities to win the final of the 2010 National Student Business Plan Competition.  A total of nine entries were received from pharmacy schools around Australia.

Held at the Pharmacy Women's Congress in Hobart last weekend, the team of Raymond Ngo, Paul Tran, John Lam and Timothy Ma convinced the judges and audience that their innovative business plan for the establishment or purchase of a pharmacy deserved financial support. Amongst their innovations was genetic testing for tailored solutions to chronic disease and weight loss treatments.

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Lewis Pounentis - PSA's South Australian Pharmacist of the Year 2010 : 24/08/2010 :

Mr Lewis Pounentis has been named PSA's South Australian Pharmacist of the Year, 2010.

A pharmacy proprietor with over 15 years community pharmacy experience, Mr Pounentis is renowned for providing all of his customers with the highest levels of customer service and advice on all health-related matters. He is also an accredited pharmacist and certified diabetes educator providing professional and compounding services to his local community.

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RGH E-Bulletin: Factors influencing anticoagulation with rivaroxaban : 23/08/2010 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is Factors influencing anticoagulation with rivaroxaban.

"Rivaroxaban is an oral direct factor Xa inhibitor in advanced clinical development for the prevention and treatment of thromboembolic disorders. As clinical use increases for this new drug it is important to be aware of factors influencing its clearance and hence anticoagulant potency. This is particularly important in the early part of the clinical use of a new drug, as sponsored clinical trials may have inclusion and exclusion criteria that might tend to be selective for healthier patients."

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

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PBAC knocks back oxycodone / naloxone combo : 23/08/2010 :

Pharmacists involved in addiction care will be disappointed that, at its July meeting, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) rejected an application from Mundipharma for PBS listing of its oxycodone/naloxone combination product Targin.

The introduction of Targin into the Australia marketplace has great potential to reduce the morbidity associated with the injection of oxycodone products - adding naloxone (an opioid antagonist [Narcan]) to oxycodone means that if users inject the product it has no effect and may even precipitate withdrawal in users dependent on opioids.

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Australia hosts international pharmacy association leaders : 23/08/2010 :

Last week saw the annual meeting of, Pharmintercom, hosted by the Guild on the Gold Coast. Pharmintercom brings together the presidents and CEOs of 8 pharmacy associations from 7 countries to discuss community pharmacy practice and development of the profession. The members include:

• Australia - Pharmacy Guild
• Canada - Canadian Pharmacists Association
• Ireland - Irish Pharmaceutical Union
• New Zealand - Pharmacy Guild of NZ
• South Africa - Community Pharmacist Sector of the Pharmaceutical Society of SA
• UK - National Pharmaceutical Association and Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee
• USA - National Community Pharmacists Association

Chaired by Kos Sclavos, the meeting consided strategic issues common to pharmacy around the world.

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Guide to buying & selling a pharmacy : 23/08/2010 :

The Pharmacy Guild has relaunched a fully revised version of its guide ‘Buying and Selling a Pharmacy: 7 steps to a highly effective sale or purchase'.

The companion resources 'One Hundred Days – From 100 days before to 100 days after your pharmacy purchase' and 'The Perilous Pitfalls of purchasing a pharmacy and how to avoid them’ are also available online.

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Blackmores continues to perform well : 20/08/2010 :

Vitamin and supplement manufacturer Blackmores yesterday announced a 17% increase in net profit for the year ending June 30 2010. The increase was on the back of a sales increase of 7% ($200 v $215 million). It is the eight consecutive year the company has delivered record sales and profits.

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Four new guidelines released by Board : 20/08/2010 :

The Pharmacy Board of Australia has released four new Guidelines. They are all available on the Board's website.

• Pharmacy Guidelines for dispensing of medicines (346 KB,PDF) 
• Pharmacy Guidelines on practice-specific issues (335 KB,PDF) 
• Pharmacy Guidelines on practice-specific issues - Guideline 1 (List of References) (315 KB,PDF)
• Pharmacy Guidelines on specialised supply arrangements (331 KB,PDF)

Guidelines are approved by the National Board and may be used as evidence of what constitutes appropriate professional conduct or practice for pharmacy in legal proceedings.

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Coalition's PBS 'savings' sets the cat among the (pharmacy) pigeons : 20/08/2010 :

Page 19 of the Coalition's Australia's Future Policy, released on Wednesday night, contained a single line noting that PBS savings would amount to $1.15 billion over the four year term of an elected Coaltion government. There was no detail provided and no explanation as to where these savings might be made.

Mr Abbott's comment yesterday morning that 'I make no apologies for wanting to get the best possible price from the drug companies' did nothing to allay mounting pharmacy concerns as to what this might be about.

Understandably, the Pharmacy Guild sought 'urgent clarification' from the Coalition, which it received in the form of a letter from Shadow Health Minister Peter Dutton. Not, however, before it had received a letter from Nicola Roxon claming that Mr Abbott 'intends to rip up the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement if he becomes Prime Minister'.

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Pharmacists think Labor has it in the bag : 20/08/2010 :

46% of those responding to this week's AusPharm poll think that Labor will win tomorrow's election. 32% think it will be the Coalition. Oddly (?), 20% are predicting a hung parliament.

For the record, the bookies still have Labor as a warm favourite with Betfair offering (for a $1 bet) $1.33 for a Labor win and $3.809 for a Coalition victory. They're not discounting the hung parliament option either, with a $1 bet only looking to return $3.25 if there's a hung parliament after the weekend.

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Greek study highlights teaspoon inaccuracies : 19/08/2010 :

A recent Greek study measured variation in the liquid volume of teaspoons in 25 different households. The findings emphasise the variability in dosing, not just of the household teaspoon, but also in perception of what constitutes a full teaspoon. This latter finding is a problem with the use of any dosing device - the device is only as accurate as the user.

The study found that even when a standardised teaspoon was used, the volume ranged from 3.9 to 4.9 ml among the total of the 25 study participants. Reasons given for underfilling a teaspoon included concerns over spillage, and that a child being given the medicine was likely to knock the spoon.

While these simple findings  are not particularly new, they reinforce the practical importance of households having an accurate dosing device to administer liquid medicines, and using it properly.

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Poll: Who do you think will gain a majority in the House of Reps? : 19/08/2010 :

In the last of AusPharm's election polls for the season, with just days to go we're curious to see how AusPharmListers call the election outcome.

We saw how votes would be lodged last week... let's see this week whether this matches the expectations of which party will get across the line with a majority in the House of Reps.

Let us know who you think will gain a majority in the House of Representatives as a result of this Saturday's election by making your voice heard in this week's poll.

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National Rural Health Conference : call for abstracts closes August 23 : 19/08/2010 :

There is only one week left to submit an abstract for the 11th National Rural Health Conference.

First time presenters are encouraged to submit an abstract. 

Up-to-date information, including abstract guidelines, is available on the Conference Website.

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Poll: Who do you think will gain a majority in the House of Reps? : 18/08/2010 :

In the last of AusPharm's election polls for the season, with just days to go we're curious to see how AusPharmListers call the election outcome. We saw how votes would be lodged last week... let's see this week whether this matches the expectations of which party will get across the line with a majority in the House of Reps.

Let us know who you think will gain a majority in the House of Representatives as a result of this Saturday's election by making your voice heard in this week's poll.

NB: We *think* we've finally fixed the bug that's been preventing people from voting in our polls so, please try to vote today and let us know if you have problems.

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PHARMeFOOTY weekly wrap : 18/08/2010 :

AFL Round 20 was great for tipsters with 37 selecting all 8 winners. Heather Pym from MGPN was closest to the margin and wins the weekly prize, congratulations Heather. In 2nd place was  David Auld of Priceline Pharmacy Sale with Craig Fox from Judges Pharmacy in 3rd spot.

NRL Round 23 was too tough for tipsters with no-one able to select all 8 winners. Adam Nash from Cowra Amcal tipped 7 and was closest to the margin so takes the weekly prize, well done Adam. In 2nd place was George Pavlidis from Fred Health with Celia Milander of Corrimal Court Pharmacy taking 3rd spot.

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