Pregabalin PBS listed : 19/11/2012 :

The federal government announced on Friday that pregabalin is to be PBS listed for the treatment of neuropathic pain. 

It is the first drug to be PBS listed for this indication.

By the time we published this morning we were unable to determine the listing date.

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RGH E‑Bulletin: Familial Cold Urticaria : 19/11/2012 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is Familial Cold Urticaria.

"Familial cold urticaria or familial cold auto-inflammatory syndrome (FACS) is in the rare family of genetic conditions known as Cryopyrin Associated Periodic Syndrome (CAPS). This includes Muckle Wells Syndrome (MWS) and Neonatal Onset Multi-System Inflammatory Disease (NOMID). FACS is the milder form, MWS is an intermediate form and NOMID is the more severe form. FACS is an autosomal dominant condition inherited from one affected parent." 

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

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Nicabate, Swisse, Reckitt Benckiser win OTC marketing awards : 19/11/2012 :

GSK and Swisse have jointly won this year's award for the Best Marketing Campaign of a Consumer Healthcare Product (Large Budget) for their Powering Australia’s Olympic Dream and Nicabate – Pledge to Quit campaign respectively.

The awards were announced at the recent Australian Self-Medication Industry (ASMI) Conference in Sydney.

The award for the Best Healthcare Professional Initiative went to Reckitt Benckiser for its Nurofen – What You Thought You Knew campaign.

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Alcohol remains the biggest drug problem : 19/11/2012 :

Nearly half of government-funded drug treatment episodes in 2010-11 were for alcohol use, according to a report released on Friday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The report Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2010-11: report on the National Minimum Data Set shows that alcohol was the principal drug of concern in 47% of treatment episodes, and in 62% of all treatment episodes it was listed as a drug of concern.

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December 1 PBS schedule : 19/11/2012 :

Download the Full PBS schedule

Download the PBS Summary of changes

Download the Efficient Funding of Chemotherapy – S100 Arrangements Supplement

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Collaboration key to developing new antibiotics : 16/11/2012 :

Governments around the world must work with the medicines industry and other parties to create a policy environment that will encourage the development of new antibiotics, Medicines Australia chief executive Dr Brendan Shaw said yesterday.

Dr Shaw said Antibiotics Awareness Week, which ends today, was a good time for governments around the world to focus on the problem of antibiotic resistance.

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Electronic prescriptions widely used, accepted : 16/11/2012 :

This week's poll asked 'listers to comment on their experience with electronic prescription transfer, three years after their introduction into community pharmacies by eRx Script Exchange or MediSecure Script Vault. According to IT blog Pulse+IT,  the two vendors have reached an agreement that will allow interoperability'.

73% of respondents reported that their experience was 'good', 'great' or 'love it'. 10% responded that their pharmacy had yet to install the relevant software.

Commenting on the poll result, David Freemantle from eRx told us that over the last three and a half years the company had seen great uptake of eRx.

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Can you drink alcohol with my antibiotics? : 16/11/2012 :

Rounding out Antibiotic Awareness Week, NPS MedicineWise is reminding Australians that while alcohol might not interact with many antibiotics, it’s still important to follow certain rules for taking antibiotics correctly.

As pharmacists know, drinking  alcohol in moderation is unlikely to be a problem with most antibiotics but, says NPS, it’s wise to avoid alcohol when you’re sick, whether you’re taking antibiotics or not.

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AusPharm CE: Medication Overuse Headache : 15/11/2012 :

Following recent coverage in Australian media of 'medication overuse headache', we thought it timely to ask Debbie Rigby to review and update last year's AusPharm Continuing Education activity of the same name.

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The next AusPharm CE topic for 2012 is  Medication Overuse Headache - it's been put together for us by Debbie Rigby.

"Headache is one of the most common presentations in community pharmacy, with consumers often self-selecting medications. It has been shown that up to 70% of the Australian population uses over-the-counter analgesics regularly for headaches or musculoskeletal pain."

This activity has been accredited for 1 hour of Group One CPD (1 CPD Credit) that may be converted to 2 Group Two CPD Credits upon successful completion of the corresponding assessment for inclusion on an individual pharmacist's CPD Record. Accreditation number: A1211AP0.

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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NPS continues focus on superbug threat : 15/11/2012 :

During this week's Antibiotic Awareness Week, NPS is continuing to highlight to consumers and health professionals the threat posed by resistant strains of bacteria.

According to NPS, more than 2 in 3 Australians know bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics — but many don’t know what to do about it.

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ASMI conference looks to the future for world class reform : 15/11/2012 :

Initiatives to deliver Australia a world class regulatory system for medicines, and the future of healthcare retailing were the key features at the recent Australian Self-Medication Industry (ASMI) 2012 Annual Conference in Sydney.

The conference, “Future Proofing the Consumer Healthcare Industry”, heard from a range of local and international speakers from the consumer healthcare industry, government, the healthcare professions and academia.

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Poll: my experience with electronic transfer of prescriptions is.... : 14/11/2012 :

'Listers may recall the recent news, as reported in IT blog Pulse+IT, that 'GPs and pharmacists will soon be able to send and receive electronic prescriptions from either eRx Script Exchange or MediSecure Script Vault following an agreement between the two vendors to allow interoperability'.

Now that electronic transfer of prescriptions (ETP) has been running for over three years, how are you finding your experience with ETP?

Please let us know by voting in this week's AusPharm poll.

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Pharmacy support sought during antibiotic awareness week : 13/11/2012 :

NPS MedicineWise has called on pharmacies to assist in the global fight against antibiotic resistance as part of Australia's first Antibiotic Awareness Week, launched in Sydney yesterday.
 
Throughout the week, Australian pharmacists and pharmacy staff are being encouraged to use a range of NPS MedicineWise resources to engage consumers in conversations about antibiotic resistance and help change attitudes and behaviours towards antibiotics.
 
As pharmacists are aware, globally the misuse of antibiotics is contributing to the rapid development and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Chair of NPS MedicineWise, Dr Janette Randall, says changing community attitudes and expectations around antibiotics is a vital step in helping to combat antibiotic resistance.

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New E-Learnign modules on antibiotic resistance : 13/11/2012 :

Another focus during this week's Antibiotic Awareness Week is the launch by NPS MedicineWise and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) of a series of online e-learning modules designed to help combat antibiotic resistance by encouraging the safe and appropriate use of antibiotics in hospitals.
 
Aimed particularly at prescribers in their first two years out of medical school, as well as nurse practitioners, hospital pharmacists and university students, the four modules address specific areas where antibiotic use in hospitals needs improvement.

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The Conversation: For your own good? Privacy law and enthusiastic pharmacists : 12/11/2012 :

Many 'listers will by now have seen last Monday's 7.30 Report story on the problems being caused by non prescription codeine supplied from pharmacies.

In the story Tasmanian pharmacist Michael Meaney said "Project Stop hasn’t been approved for codeine sales, but we’re doing it because we think it’s the lesser evil to perhaps infringe on people’s personal privacy, to infringe on these privacy laws rather than allow a handful of people to do enormous damage to themselves."

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TGA consultations on OTC med advisory statements : 12/11/2012 :

The TGA is currently seeking comments from interested parties on the proposed label advisory statements for three drugs when included in non prescription medicines. The aim of the consultations is to help ensure that the proposed advisory statements are appropriate and support the quality use of medicines for non-prescription products.

The drugs in question are azelastine for topical ophthalmic and nasal use, famciclovir for oral use and loratadine and desloratadine, also for oral administration.

Details are here.

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Dextropropoxyphene saga drawing to a close? : 12/11/2012 :

'Listers will be aware that the proposed removal of dextropropoxyphene (DPP) containing products from the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) has been the subject of protracted legal and administrative proceedings since the initial TGA decision, in December 2011, to remove the products from the ARTG.

In what may be the final part of the process, proceedings regarding the cancellation of Di-Gesic and Doloxene have now resumed before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and the matter has been set down for a final hearing on 27 and 28 February 2013. Because of the stay granted by the AAT, the cancellation decisions will not take effect until further order of the AAT. The sponsor of the two other DPP containing products previously on the ARTG, Capadex and Paradex, did not challenge the original TGA decision and their ARTG registrations were cancelled on 1 March 2012.

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Pharmacy Gangnam Style : 12/11/2012 :

Thanks to the several 'listers who sent this along.

Click the image to see the video on the YouTube website.

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Advanced Pharmacy Practice Framework released : 12/11/2012 :

The Advanced Pharmacy Practice Framework for Australia has now been released following its recent endorsement by the Pharmacy Board of Australia.

The development of the framework was undertaken by a Steering Committee containing representatives of ten Australian pharmacy organisations. Many individual pharmacists also provided feedback during the consultation phase. The project took into account other relevant national and international initiatives including work by the United Kingdom Competency Development and Evaluation Group, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Pharmacy Council of New Zealand and pharmacists in the Australian hospital sector.

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RGH E‑Bulletin: Changing goalposts in the management of type 2 diabetes : 12/11/2012 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is Changing goalposts in the management of type 2 diabetes.

"Contemporary management of type 2 diabetes (T2D) involves addressing all risk factors that contribute to the morbidity and mortality, namely lifestyle, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and hyperglycaemia. Treatment goals continue to evolve as evidence emerges and consensus opinion converges.  The National Vascular Disease Prevention Alliance Guidelines for the management of absolute cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk recommend (based on consensus) implementing pharmacotherapy with the aim of reducing levels towards the targets (table 1) while balancing the risk and benefits of drug treatment." 

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

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