June 1 PBS schedule : 21/05/2012 :

The June PBS Schedule is now available

New brands of Atorvastatin are APO-Atorvastatin, Atorvachol GM, Atorvastatin GH, Atorvastatin Sandoz, Chem mart Atorvastatin, Lorstat AF, Terry White Chemists Atorvastatin and Torvastat QA so that brings the total to 11 brands!

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Rural Health Education Foundation: Parkinson’s : 21/05/2012 :

The topic of tomorrow night's (May 22) Rural Health Education Foundation broadcast is Parkinson’s: The Latest Approaches.

Join Dr Norman Swan, as he chairs a leading panel, discussing the latest advanced in diagnosis, treatment and ongoing management of Parkinson’s disease.

With no known cure, treatment aims to minimise the impact of the symptoms on the person’s quality of life and management can be enhanced by the holistic and ongoing care of a multidisciplinary healthcare team.

Full details are here.

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RGH E-Bulletin: Antipsychotic-induced weight gain : 21/05/2012 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is Antipsychotic-induced weight gain.

"Weight gain is a well recognised adverse effect of atypical antipsychotics. The propensity for weight gain varies between agents, as does the extent of weight gain and the time course over which it occurs. Data from trials involving patients with psychotic illness and clinical experience indicates that weight gain (defined as >7% increase from baseline) occurs most frequently with olanzapine and clozapine, and least frequently with amisulpride, aripiprazole, asenapine and ziprasidone."

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

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Pharmacists head Queensland Hospital Boards : 21/05/2012 :

Two pharmacists have taken leadership roles in the new Queensland government's re-working of hospital and health governance across the State. Congratulations to well-known pharmacy figure, Terry White, on his appointment as head of the South Metro (Brisbane) Hospital and Health Board, and to community pharmacist and owner Mr Scott McCahon, appointed as head of the Cape York Hospital and Health Board.

The appointments comes as part of the new Queensland government's prompt move to return delivery of health services to local control, with board appointments being made for 15 regions across Queensland.

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Further funds via Medicare Locals to boost eHealth roll-out : 21/05/2012 :

Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek has announced a further $50 million funding over 2 years to Medicare Locals to help educate and support GPs and other front line health professionals in adopting the new eHealth records system. The funds are also to be used to build consumer awareness of the value of eHealth records.

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Tax time – a donation to PSS is a gift to your profession and a deduction for you : 20/05/2012 :

As the end of the financial year approaches the Pharmacists’ Support Service (PSS) is inviting Australian pharmacists to consider making a tax deductible donation to support the work of PSS. PSS is an independent incorporated association and relies on the generosity of the profession to continue its work.

According to Natalie Collard, Vice President of PSS, “PSS provides a listening ear and support to any pharmacist, pharmacy student or intern wishing to call on the toll-free number. All members of the pharmacy profession should support this service.”

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AusPharm CE: Issues around drug dosing in women who are pregnant : 19/05/2012 :

The latest AusPharm CE topic is Issues around drug dosing in women who are pregnant - it’s been put together for us by Ella van Tienen.

Whether to use a medication during pregnancy can be a source of concern for both patients and healthcare providers.  It is estimated that around 59% of women are prescribed a medication other than vitamins at some time during their pregnancy,1 and it is expected that an even greater proportion take over the counter preparations.

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Medicine Brand Choices: Pharmacy Resource Pack in the mail : 18/05/2012 :

This week all community pharmacies around Australia will receive a pack of NPS resources. The resources are designed to support conversations with consumers about choosing a medicine brand, reduce confusion about multiple medicine brands and improve medicine safety.

The Quick Guides in the new pack have been designed specifically for pharmacy assistants who begin most of the conversations with consumers about medicine brand choices.

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More on the Trovas treasure : 18/05/2012 :

Responding to yesterday's revelation on AusPharm that it is gifting large amounts of free Trovas to its supporting customers, generics company Ranbaxy said that while "the reward package is similar for all Trovas supporters, there are different structures to accommodate the needs across independent and pharmacy groups".

Ranbaxy Australia MD Alex Evans said that “The Australian launch of Ranbaxy’s Trovas has been incredibly successful for the company”  adding that " An AusPharm poll, run about a month ago just as Trovas listed on the PBS, indicated that Trovas was then, already, the most dispensed atorvastatin molecule. In the short time since launch, Trovas has been purchased by more than half of all retail pharmacies".

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Sensaslim dead, but not buried : 18/05/2012 :

A report in yesterday's Medical Observer suggests that, even though Sensaslim has been removed from the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, the company is free to sell its remaining stock of the product.

While the company is banned from advertising, manufacturing, importing or exporting its product, it seems that onselling it to retailers is not illegal, provided the product is not advertised.

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Pharmacy web presence growing : 18/05/2012 :

The number of Australian pharmacies with a 'fully e-commerce enabled, interactive web site that generates significant business' has doubled in the last year according to the results of this week's AusPharm online poll.

13% of respondents to this week's poll (n=126) told us they have a sophisticated web presence compared to 7% of respondents in an identical poll in August 2011 (n=166). 

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Treasure Trovas : 17/05/2012 :

Makers of atorvastation generic Trovas, Ranbaxy, are handsomely rewarding pharmacists who supported the company by purchasing Trovas at launch, by gifting them almost $15,000 worth of free Trovas.

It is unclear how many pharmacies have received the free gift however AusPharm has had a number get in touch over the last few days.

We asked Ranbaxy for a comment yesterday but our email went unanswered. Here is the email the favoured pharmacies are receiving. It's been edited to remove personal details.

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Pharmacists rated second for honesty and ethical standards : 17/05/2012 :

Roy Morgan's annual Image of Professions Survey found that, once again, pharmacists were rated the second most most ethical and honest profession, after nurses.

“Roy Morgan’s annual Image of Professions survey for 2012 shows a majority of professions (18) recorded falls in their ratings for ‘ethics and honesty’ over the past year although Nurses (90%, unchanged from 2011) still lead the way as Australia’s most respected profession for very high or high ‘ethics and honesty’. Other professions in the medical field once again scored well with high ratings for ‘ethics and honesty’ including Pharmacists (88%)" said Gary Morgan.

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NAPE: Advanced Practice should be developed rapidly : 17/05/2012 :

The National Alliance for Pharmacy Education (NAPE), a collaboration between The University of Queensland, The University of Sydney, University of South Australia and Monash University, said yesterday that it supports the rapid development of Advanced Practice as an important step in advancing the pharmacy profession and enhancing healthcare within Australia.

The group this week submitted a response to the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Framework Steering Committee’s (APPFSC) consultation paper.

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Guild launches New Pharma video : 17/05/2012 :

The Pharmacy Guild has launched an explanatory video that highlights the benefits of its New Pharma online diagnostic tool and provides insight into its functionality.
 
New Pharma is an online program that provides potential pharmacy owners with the building blocks of a successful business by ensuring they buy the right pharmacy for them, in the right way.  The online resource is a guide for anyone wanting to buy a pharmacy in Australia and provides advice on practically every aspect of establishing and running a viable pharmacy business.

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New ideas and CPD points for pharmacists at NMS 2012 : 16/05/2012 :

Pharmacists attending the National Medicines Symposium (NMS 2012) will be able to apply for professional development points through the PSA.

Activities at the Symposium have been accredited for a total of 10 hours of Group 1 CPD (or 10 CPD credits) and 3 hours of Group 2 CPD (or 6 CPD credits) suitable for inclusion in an individual pharmacist’s CPD plan.

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Poll: does the pharmacy you work in have a website? : 16/05/2012 :

All 'listers would be aware that online sales of goods and services has grown exponentially over the last few years. A post on AusPharmList this week raised the issue of the desirability of a community pharmacy establishing a web presence but balances this against the perceived cost of establishing the pharmacy website.

Does your pharmacy have a website? Please let us know by voting in today's AusPharm poll.

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MedsPro a hit : 15/05/2012 :

The innovative MedsPro VPC (Virtual Pill Count), which is being introduced nationally by Webstercare for dispensing medications into Webstercare systems, is proving popular with pharmacists throughout Australia.

"The recurring comments from many of these pharmacists are that the system reduces packing time and reduces the amount of working space needed" said Gerard Stevens, pharmacist and Managing Director of Webstercare.

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Pharmacy Business Network preliminary program released : 15/05/2012 :

The Pharmacy Business Network (PBN) will take place at the National Convention Centre in Canberra from13-16 September 2012. The event website has now gone live with a preliminary program.  

Highlights of the program include the National Student Business Plan Competition, Jean Shannon from the St James Ethics Centre will be making the inaugural Judy Liauw Foundation Address and in a unique first, the PBN will host optional masterclasses on Sunday 16 September. The PBN is designed to help pharmacies make better business decisions - the focus is to provide delegates with tools and ideas to improve business planning, management and profitability.

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Latest edition of On the Record out now : 15/05/2012 :

The May edition of On The Record for 2011 has been published online and contains the following articles:

• eHealth online Learning Centre launches
• Budget delivers certainty for eHealth system
• eHealth: Connecting the dots for GPs and patients
• Northern Territory residents signing up to eHealth
• eHealth: Protecting you and your information
• eHealth record: Your stories 

On the Record will provides readers with updates on the development and rollout of the national eHealth record system.

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