Australian Pharmacy Council’s Examining Committee Seeking New Members : 27/10/2009 :

The Australian Pharmacy Council’s Examining Committee is seeking new members.

Applications are invited from overseas trained pharmacists who have registered in Australia as a result of completing the APC examination process, and anyone with a pharmacy academic/lecturing/research background.

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Reports of PBS windfall for pharmacy dismissed by Guild : 27/10/2009 :

According to the Pharmacy Guild, claims flowing from a report on PBS sustainability released yesterday that pharmacy will be the 'big winners' from PBS reform are unfounded.

The report, conducted by the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies at Victoria University, does however confirm Access Economics research commissioned by the Pharmacy Guild, the key points of which were announced at the APP conference in April, that government savings as a result of PBS reforms will be much greater than first thought. The new report found that, over 10 years to 2017-18, PBS reform will deliver savings to the government of $6 billion – $3 billion more than the Government had banked on.

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RGH E-Bulletin: Treatment-emergent affective switch : 26/10/2009 :

"Antidepressants are commonly used as adjuncts to mood-stabilising agents such as lithium or sodium valproate for patients with bipolar affective disorder. It has been reported that treatment with antidepressants may be associated with the induction of episodes of mania or hypomania in 15-40% of bipolar patients. The phenomenon of abnormal mood elevation during antidepressant treatment, or ‘treatment-emergent affective switch’ was first described in association with tricyclic antidepressants, and has now been reported for all major antidepressant classes."

Click here to read this E-Bulletin in full. The E-Bulletins are archived on the AusPharmList website here.

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No surprises in September PBS costs : 26/10/2009 :

September PBS dispensing statistics, released on Friday, show that 15 million PBS scripts were dispensed during the month at a total cost to government of $15.5 million, representing growth of 3.3% in absolute script numbers and 12.4% in dollar costs compared to September 2008.

Year to date figures show growth of 9.2% in absolute script numbers to 147.3 million (2008 - 134.8) and growth in dollar terms of 13.6% to $5.67 billion (2008 - $4.99 billion).

Click the link to see a detailed breakdown of costs by therapeutic groups, with high growth areas flagged.

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Cough and cold preps for under sixes to go : 26/10/2009 :

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is recommending that cough and cold preparations not be used in children under 6 and for children between 6 and 12, used only on the advice of a doctor or pharmacist.

The TGA said on Friday that says, "....in light of the current lack of evidence of efficacy and the historical profile of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in Australia and overseas, it is likely that the risks associated with the use of cough and cold preparations in children outweigh the likely benefits for children below the age of 6 years. There is currently a lack of evidence of efficacy for cough and cold medicines in children aged 6 to 12 years of age and the historical profile of ADRs indicates that there are potential risks involved in use of these medicines in that age group also."

As a result, the TGA is recommending a number of changes to the labelling, packaging and scheduling of the relevant products. You can read the details here.

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PSA welcomes progress on preventive health : 26/10/2009 :

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) has welcomed passage of legislation through the House of Representatives last week that marks a large step forward in improving the health of Australians.  Pending consideration of the legislation in the Senate, Australia should have its first National Preventive Health Agency ready to commence activities from 1 January 2010.
 
PSA’s National President, Mr Warwick Plunkett, said the establishment of this long-overdue national agency was a key recommendation of the final report of the Preventative Health Taskforce and is strongly supported by PSA.

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Poll: PSE - S4, S3 or off the market? : 23/10/2009 :

This week's poll was a repeat of one we ran in December 2007 and asked 'listers what should be done with the scheduling of pseudo*phedr*ne containing products.This was prompted by media reports last weekend that NSW Police were pushing for all PSE containing products to go to S4.

The result of this week's poll shows that pharmacists overwhelmingly support the status quo - we suspect that if we'd included a 'status quo with mandatory Project STOP' , the level of overall support might have been even higher.

Of interest is that significantly fewer respondents chose the 'off the market' or schedule 4' options than did so in 2003, perhaps reflecting the more widespread use of (and acceptance of) Project STOP compared to 2007.

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Alcohol remains number one on drug treatment list : 23/10/2009 :

Alcohol continues to be the number one drug of concern for Australians seeking treatment for drug or alcohol issues, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The report, Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2007-08: report on the National Minimum Data Set, found that treatment for alcohol issues has continued to increase, with treatment for alcohol comprising 44% of treatment episodes in 2007-08 compared with 38% in 2002-03.

According to Amber Jefferson of the Institute’s Drug Surveys and Services Unit, alcohol treatment was followed by treatments for cannabis (22% of treatment episodes), amphetamines (11%) and heroin (11%).

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2010 Rural and Remote Pharmacy scholarships : 23/10/2009 :

Applications are now being sought from rural and remote students for scholarships worth up to $40,000 to study pharmacy at University. Applications opened on Friday 2 October and will close on Monday 14 December.

30 fulltime scholarships are available annually valued at $10,000 per annum over a four year period - applicants can be in any year of undergraduate or postgraduate study.

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Blackmores continues to perform well : 23/10/2009 :

Vitamin company Blackmores yesterday released its results for the first quarter of financial year 2009/10.

The company reported sales of $54.7 million, up 17% on the previous year while net profit for the quarter came in at $6.9 million, down 4.1% on the previous quarter. Blackmores attributes the decline in net profit to movements in exchange rates, increases in the cost of raw material and depreciation costs associated with its new plant in Sydney.

The company says it is on track to deliver modest profit growth over the full 2009/10 financial year.

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Review of RMMR Program - new survey : 23/10/2009 :

As we reported back in July (here), a review of the Residential Medication Management Review (RMMR) Program is currently being conducted.

Campbell Research, who is conducting the review, is now inviting MMR accredited pharmacists to complete a survey to further inform it's review.

The review has a number of objectives, including assessment of the processes and costs associated with conducting RMMRs, the outcomes of RMMRs for residents of aged care homes, factors that enable or limit access to the program for pharmacists, GPs and resident of aged care homes and the role that incentives play in encouraging pharmacists to become accredited.

Click here to do the survey.

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Industry calls for more down-scheduling : 23/10/2009 :

The Australian Self Medication Industry (ASMI) has called for "fresh thinking in regard to the regulation of medicines, to enable consumers to have easy and affordable access to medicines and treatments for some of the most common health conditions."

In a position paper released this week, Increasing Access to Medicines to Enhance Self Care, ASMI says  prescription medicines that have proven safe and effective over a long period of time should be considered for down-scheduling. According to the industry group, as well as benefiting the consumer this would "make better use of the clinical skills of pharmacists, empowering them to play an active role in the management of primary health, particularly minor ailments and chronic conditions."

You can download the position paper here.

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10 years ago this month - alcohol and pharmacist counselling : 23/10/2009 :

Given today's AIHW report on the harm caused by alcohol misuse in Australia, this seems like a good post to revisit 10 years on. 

"Given that alcohol is directly responsible for about 18,000 deaths pa in Australia and that smoking is responsible for about 6,000 and that there is an interaction between alcohol and many pharmaceuticals I am interested to hear of the level of pharmacist's intervention with regard to alcohol consumption."

Click the link to read Michael Steven's comments in full.

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New osteoporosis resource for pharmacists : 22/10/2009 :

In preparation for World Osteoporosis Day next week (Oct 30), Osteoporosis Australia has released a new brochure MEN AND OSTEOPOROSIS that will assist pharmacists provide information for their male patients who are at risk of osteoporosis.

One in four Australian men over the age of 60 will suffer a fracture due to osteoporosis - fractures from osteoporosis are less common in men than in women but when fractures occur in men they cause higher disability and death rates. Osteoporosis Australia has recruited well known Australian athletes, Guy Leech and Robert de Castella to help promote the new resources.

Osteoporosis Australia has also produced a new brochure to assist GPs treat their patients with osteoporosis MEN AND OSTEOPOROSIS- for GPs.

You can download the brochures here.

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eClinic functionality incorporated into minfos dispensing software : 22/10/2009 :

Users of minfos dispensing software can now, at the click of a mouse button, send patients SMS messages to remind them that their repeat prescriptions are due to be dispensed.

minfos Manager Matt Lalor said that there were many benefits to eClinic - both for pharmacists and for their customers. "It's a fantastic way to improve customer loyalty and is also a cost effective and efficient way to increase medication compliance," he said.

The function can also be used to remind customers when their script is due to expire, when a preferred product is on special or when it is time for a vaccine or a blood pressure check.

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API turned around? : 22/10/2009 :

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API) yesterday released details of its full year results for the year ending August 31, 2009.

We won't report the details as they're well covered in the mainstream media (eg here, here, here or here) except to say that overall, the company delivered a 22.5 per cent rise in net profit to $18.6 million flowing from a 9.6 per cent rise in sales to $3.55 billion. API is forecasting net profit growth of 10% cent in 2009-10.

There is a very friendly report on all this in yesterday's Australian, authored by one of the paper's business writers CRITERION (Tim Boreham), alluding to API's troubled times in recent years (remember the $17 million lost down the back of the lounge in 2006?) who says, "If Criterion were an existing API holder he would take up the rights. Finally, a turnaround is in the offing."

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AusPharm CE: Age Related Macular Degeneration : 21/10/2009 :

The next of this year's AusPharm CE topics is Age Related Macular Degeneration - it's been put together for us by Debbie Rigby.

"In Australia, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of visual disability and blindness in people over 60 years of age. It is responsible for nearly half of the cases of blindness in Australia. This article focuses on the role of evidence-based complementary medicines in the prevention and treatment of AMD."

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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Poll: pseudo*phedr*ne, what to do? : 21/10/2009 :

Pseudo*phedr*ne has been (more than usually) in the news over the last week or two with PSE containing products going script only in New Zealand and reports emerging on the weekend (subsequently denied) that NSW Police were to push for all PSE products to go script only in NSW.

What do you think should happen to PSE scheduling? Please let us know by voting in today's poll below.

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View from the pharmacy door : 21/10/2009 :

Here's another entry in our 'View from the pharmacy door' competition. This is the is the view from the back door of Longford's resident chemist, Paul Schild.

Paul (and Brett Phillips yesterday) both win one of our lovely AusPharm pens. Keep sending 'em in folks.

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Conflicting reports on PSE : 20/10/2009 :

As we reported yesterday the Sydney Sun Herald ran a front page story on Sunday asserting that NSW Police were backing a plan to make pseudoephedrine containing products schedule 4. The story cites NSW Drug Squad commander Detective Superintendent Nick Bingham as backing the proposal.

However, ABC news reports yesterday cite the same Detective Superintendent Nick Bingham as supporting the mandatory introduction of Project STOP in NSW, a proposition that would seem to be at odds with the S4 proposal.

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