Award compliance checklists published : 28/03/2012 :

Following the release in early March of the Fair Work Ombudsman's report showing high levels of staff underpayment in Queensland community pharmacies Guild President Kos Sclavos warned that a national audit was likely.

At APP 2012 Mr Sclavos said that the Guild would be releasing checklists that would assist employers make sure they are paying their staff in a compliant way. These checklists are now available on the Guild website.

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Poll: will supermarkets get pharmacies any time soon? : 28/03/2012 :

The issue of supermarkets being allowed to operate pharmacies, never too far away from the pharmacy psych, arose once again recently with the publication of an opinion article in online news site The Conversation canvassing the possibility.

Will supermarkets 'get' pharmacies? Please let us know what you think by voting in this week's AusPharm poll.

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57% of Australians make mistakes with their medicines: Be Medicinewise Week 2012 : 27/03/2012 :

New research from NPS has found that 57% of Australians report they have made a mistake with their medicines in the past 12 months.

In a survey of 1205 people, 44% said they had forgotten to take a dose, and 1 in 4 had taken a medication without food when they were directed to take it with food.

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Reduce Salt for Better Health : 27/03/2012 :

On the eve of World Salt Awareness Week. Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, Catherine King, highlighted the role the food industry needs to play to achieve lower salt intake in the daily diet of the Australian public.

“The National Health and Medical Research Council recommends that Australian adults limit their intake of salt to no more than 6 grams (or 1½ teaspoons) a day but Australians continue to consume too much salt which can lead to high blood pressure, heart attack, kidney disease and stroke.

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NPS reappoints two directors : 26/03/2012 :

NPS: Better choices, Better health has reappointed two directors to its board for further terms of three years.

Dr Graeme Killer AO has been reappointed as the Government Class Director, while current Chair Dr Janette Randall was reappointed as Additional Director.

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PBS cost decline continues : 26/03/2012 :

PBS figures for February 2012, released by Medicare over the weekend, show a continuation of the recent downwards trend.

In February 2012 13.6 million PBS/RPBS scripts with a government reimbursement value of $573 million were dispensed across the country. This represents a decline of 22% on the 2011 figures of 16.6 million items and a 17% decline in the 2011 dollar spend of $746 million.

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RGH E-Bulletin: Bullous Pemphigoid : 26/03/2012 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is Bullous Pemphigoid.

"Bullous Pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune, blistering disease encountered in the western countries. The prevalence is approximately equally for both genders, and although more common in the elderly this condition can occur in younger adults and children. The clinical presentation involves the appearance of tense blisters on normal-looking or erythematous skin, with mucous membranes involved in about 50% of cases. The degree of associated itch can range from none, through to intense itching, and this may precede the appearance of the blisters by weeks, or in some cases, years."

Click here to read the bulletin in full. The E‑Bulletins are archived on the AusPharmList website here.RGH E-Bulletin: Clostridium Difficile Associated Diarrhoea (CDAD) & PPIs

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Pharmacy organisations lobbying for removal of pharmacists from SOL : 26/03/2012 :

Pharmacy organisations are continuing to lobby for the removal of pharmacists from the migration Skilled Occupations List (SOL) for 2012-13.

The SOL is a list of occupations that are currently acceptable for immigration to Australia. Skills Australia removed pharmacists from the SOL in 2010, but put them back in July last year.

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Can Pharmacy thrive beyond the patent cliff? : 26/03/2012 :

By regularly sucking significant sums of dollars out of the cost of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines and their supply, Federal Government PBS reforms such as pricing disclosure are set to trigger significant structural and potentially irreversible changes to the community pharmacy landscape.

That’s according to John Montgomery, formerly President Asia Pacific Mylan Pharmaceuticals and CEO at Alphapharm, who will deliver the Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL) Centenary Lecture on Tuesday 17 April at The Sebel Hotel in Parramatta.

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CHF: consumers support community pharmacy role in health : 26/03/2012 :

Responding to recent criticism levelled at it by the Pharmacy Guild, Consumers' Health Forum (CHF) CEO Carol Bennett maintains that CHF remains remains committed to the role of pharmacy in quality health care service.

Following the publication of an article critical of community pharmacy in last Thursday's Sydney Morning Herald which quoted Ms Bennett as saying the Guild "should concentrate on serving the best interests of Australian consumers rather than pharmacists' profits" the Guild released a statement saying that "Regrettably, the CHF has shown itself to be ideologically opposed to the community pharmacy model which has served Australian health consumers so well for so long."

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Pharmacists supportive of 'continued dispensing' : 23/03/2012 :

2/3 of the respondents to this week's AusPharm poll think that 'continued dispensing' will benefit patients with about half of these thinking that this will be a more useful initiative if other drug classes are added.

Only 8% of respondents expressed the view that 'continued dispensing' would go the way of some other professional programs trialed and quietly fade away. About 1/3 of respondents think the initiative unnecessary, there being enough 'emergency supply' options already.

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Registrations now open for NMS 2012; scholarship winner announced : 23/03/2012 :

Registrations are now open for the National Medicines Symposium (NMS), which is being held in Sydney from 24-25 May 2012. An early bird discount is being offered to those who register before 30 March.

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AusPharm CE: Issues around drug dosing in women who are breast feeding : 22/03/2012 :

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

Breastfeeding is the best method of feeding infants in terms of cost, convenience and health benefits for both the infant and mother.1  Current recommendations suggest that in the absence of contraindications, women should exclusively breastfeed their infants for the first six months of life, and continue to breastfeed with complementary foods for up to two years. Many mothers are likely to need to take some form of medication during this time.

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SIGMA workers go back : 22/03/2012 :

SIGMA reached an agreement with striking workers at its Rowville warehouse that saw them return to work yesterday.

The company says its operations should be back to normal by next Monday (26 March).

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Comments sought on PCEHR Regulations and rules paper : 22/03/2012 :

The Department of Health and Ageing has released the Proposals for Regulations and Rules (proposals paper) for the eHealth records program.

The proposals paper helps explain the main rules and regulations which are proposed to be made to support the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Bill and Consequential Bill which are currently before Parliament. Comment is being sought on the proposals paper to help develop and refine the proposed rules and regulations which will govern the eHealth records program.

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Fairfax press continues attack on pharmacy : 22/03/2012 :

In a prominent article in today's Sydney Morning Herald, the paper accuses pharmacists of putting dollars before patients by, in effect, taking advantage of the discounts that will be available on generic versions of atorvastatin from April 1.

The article is highly critical of Pharmacy Guild advice to members, contained in a September 2011 'April 1 2012' fact sheet, to increase generic substitution rates in order to maintain dispensary profit.

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Apology : 21/03/2012 :

It has been brought to our attention that a post to AusPharmList yesterday included a phrase describing a female pharmacy professional which may have been inappropriate and may have caused offence.

AusPharm unreservedly apologises for any offence caused and has removed the phrase from the post in question.

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TGA warns consumers about the use of Black Salve in treating cancer : 21/03/2012 :

The TGA has issued a safety advisory warning consumers not to purchase or use products containing 'Black salve' saying that the use of such products in Australia has resulted in serious harm to the skin of three consumers who used the black salves for various skin conditions including the treatment of a skin cancer.

The TGA says it is not aware of any credible, scientific evidence which shows that any black or red salve preparation is effective in treating cancer.

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Going through the mill... : 21/03/2012 :

…is how consumers with mental illness, such as depression and anxiety, often report feeling.

Pharmacy staff can assist consumers and their carers and families, to manage their illness by using professional skills and knowledge to meet their needs. As noted by Australia’s Pharmacy Guild National President, Kos Sclavos – key to achieving the vision of Australia’s Mental Health Roadmap is recognising that supporting people with mental health illness to lead fulfilling lives is everyone’s business.

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NAPSA executive meets at APP : 21/03/2012 :

The Executive and Committee Chairs of the National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association (NAPSA) met at the recent APP2102 conference on the Gold Coast.

NAPSA President Timothy Mizzi said that the event provided the NAPSA committee with an opportunity to meet face to face and to strengthen their partnerships with the Guild, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Pharmaceutical Defence Limited, Australian Medicines Handbook, its secretariat the Australian College of Pharmacy and other organisations.

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