PSA: other health professions need support as well : 17/03/2010 :

The Government’s announcement of a substantial boost in GP training places, specialist training places and pre-vocational general practice placements for medical graduates is a welcome development, but other health professions need similar support, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia says.

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Cardiovascular medicine supply highest in regional areas : 17/03/2010 :

People living in Australia’s regional areas access cardiovascular disease (CVD) medicines at higher rates than people in major cities or remote areas, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

The report, Cardiovascular medicines and primary health care: a regional analysis, looked at the supply of medicines through the PBS/RPBS to different Australian regions.

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HEA reassures stock exchange : 17/03/2010 :

Following stock exchange (ASX) queries about its half year accounts Health Corporation Ltd (HEA), proponents of the Chemconsult medication advice tool, has moved to reassure the ASX that its future is secure.

ASX put a series of questions to the company following comments made by the company's auditors in its half year accounts that it disagreed with HEA's opinion that 'the going concern basis used in the preparation of the half year finacial report is appropriate'.

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PHARMeFOOTY underway for 2010 : 17/03/2010 :

PHARMeFOOTY is underway for 2010 - good luck to all tippers for the 2010 season!

NRL Round 1 was a closely fought contest to start the season with just 2 tippers selecting all the 8 winners. As always the margin decides the result and Matt O'Connor of BMMR selected the perfect margin and becomes our first Weekly winner of 2010. Congratulations Matt! In second place, just 1 margin point behind, was Ivanka Cavar from Baxter Pharmacy with Ken Montgomery of Pharmasol taking 3rd place.

A full roundup of last weekend's footy results is available at the PHARMeFOOTY website. It's not too late to register for this year's PHARMeFOOTY - click here to register now.

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APESMA: a roadmap to nowhere : 17/03/2010 :

Employee pharmacist union, the Pharmacists Division of APESMA (PDA), has come out against the Guild's proposed new strategic plan for community pharmacy,  'The Roadmap - The Strategic Direction For Community Pharmacy', claiming it will be 'a road to nowhere'.  

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OTC industry, pharmacists call for minor ailments strategy to help ease doctor shortage : 17/03/2010 :

The non-prescription medicines industry peak body has joined national pharmacy organizations to urge the Federal Government to do more to address GP shortages through a scheme that would see some minor ailments redirected to pharmacists.

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APP feedback : 17/03/2010 :

I greatly appreciated seeing you at APP2010 last weekend. It was great to be able to put names to faces: Mark Dunn, Tony Wiss, Bill Arnold and others.

My only comment would be for your next year's stall. Whilst a bikini model handing out leaflets was a good idea, somebody attractive of the female variety as opposed to Irwin the evil chemist in a g-string might leave a better lasting impression.

That’s an image that will take some scrubbing with warm soapy water to remove from my retina.

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Alendronate may cause your femur to snap : 16/03/2010 :

Get ready to answer questions about the possible consequences of long term use of alendronate.

The US media is full of reports about a new study which says that a number of women who have been on the medicine for more than five years are fracturing their femurs.

The sound of snapping femurs (ouch!)  will more than likely attract the attention of Australian media too.

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Images of APP : 16/03/2010 :

As usual APP was a colouful affair and lots of old friends dropped by the AusPharm stand to say g'day. That's Irwin the evil chemist at right.

We're trying to convince Irwin to tell us the full story on how he got the 'evil chemist' moniker - watch this space.
 

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Big pharma donates $1 million for Indigenous health : 16/03/2010 :

Medicines Australia will make a $1m donation to the Jimmy Little Foundation at a Parliament House function tonight to help improve indigenous health outcomes in remote communities.

The donation has been funded by fine revenue collected from member companies found in breach of the Medicines Australia Code of Conduct.

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RGH E-Bulletin: Opioid equivalence (part 1) : 15/03/2010 :

The topic of this RGH E‑Bulletin is Opioid equivalence (part 1 of 2).

"Patients with either chronic or malignant pain, who have previously been stabilised on a particular opioid, may reach a point where opioid rotation is beneficial. Inadequate analgesia despite escalating doses, or the development of intolerable side effects, are valid indications to change the opioid in use. Opioid rotation may be necessary when tolerance has occurred to the current analgesia, and cross-tolerance between opioids varies."

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

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Generic clopidogrel imminent : 15/03/2010 :

Last Friday the High Court of Australia handed down a judgement that grants Apotex the right to market its generic  clopidogrel in Australia.

Apotex is now clear to market its clopidogrel products, already registered with the TGA, and can now also seek compensation from Sanofi  for the 29 months Apotex has been prevented from marketing its brands.

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Guild to develop strategic plan for community pharmacy : 15/03/2010 :

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia announced at APP on Friday that it is developing a strategic plan for the future development of professional services delivered by community pharmacists.

According to the Guild work on the document, to be titled ‘The Roadmap – the Strategic Direction for Community Pharmacy’, is already underway.

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PBS payments direct to wholesalers? : 15/03/2010 :

During Friday's panel discussion session at the APP conference the CEO's of each of the three pharmacy wholesalers spoke as one about the need for the existing trading term arrangements with pharmacies to change. Readers may recall posts to AusPharmList claiming, for example, that the My Chemist / Chemist Warehouse group were receiving 6 months forward charging from their wholesaler, Sigma.

Panel members had been encouraged earlier by session moderator Greg Turnbull to be 'controversial'. API CEO Stephen Roche took up the challenge and 'put something out there for consideration'.

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2010 Pharmacy of the Year awards presented at APP : 15/03/2010 :

As we reported on Friday, South City Chemmart Bunbury, Western Australia, was named as the Johnson & Johnson Pharmacy of the Year for 2010 at the Australian Pharmacy Professional (APP) conference on the Gold Coast.

The category winners were also announced at APP and are:

• Excellence in business management: Goldfields Fullife Pharmacy, Gympie, Qld.
• Excellence in community engagement: Walsh’s Village Pharmacy, South Maroubra, NSW.
• Innovation in professional services: South City Chemmart, Bunbury, WA.

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Conferences too costly for many : 12/03/2010 :

This week's AusPharm poll sought to find out what proportion of pharmacists attend pharmacy conferences and for those who don't, why they don't.

Roughly half of respondents told us that they attend these events 'often' or 'sometimes' but the take home message from the poll was that, of the roughly half of respondents who 'rarely or never' attend, 2/3 of these cite 'too expensive' as the reason. Another 16% of non attenders say that they're just 'too busy'.

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GSK acknowledged as female friendly : 12/03/2010 :

Pharma company GlaxoSmithKline was announced last week as the only pharmaceutical company in Australia to be officially recognised as a 2010 Employer of Choice for Women (EOFCW).

The citation was awarded by the Federal Government’s Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA).

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New appointments to NPS Board : 12/03/2010 :

Several changes have been made to the National Prescribing Service Board with the appointment of two new directors and the reappointment of an existing director.

The new Board members are Dr Chris Mitchell has replaced Ross Maxwell as a General Practice Class director and Dr Jim Langridge. Kate Moore has been reappointed for a second three-year term as the Consumer Class director.

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APP State of the Industry Symposium : 12/03/2010 :

Once again in 2010, a 'State of the Industry Symposium' was held at the APP conference on the day before the start of the conference proper, which got underway at the Gold Coast Convention Centre this morning.

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New Panadol variant with caffeine : 12/03/2010 :

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare is today launching a new pharmacy only (S2) analgesic product called Panadol® Extra that combines 500mg of paracetamol with 65mg of caffeine. 

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