Medscheck programs on track for a July 1 start : 28/05/2012 :

The MedsCheck and Diabetes MedsCheck programs, funded  under the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement (5CPA) and piloted in 276 pharmacies since last year, is on track for a national rollout of the two in-pharmacy services on July 1.

These are new medication management, professional services, with remuneration on a fee-for-service basis - all community pharmacies should be able to participate as no additional pharmacist accreditation is required. 

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Swisse advertising ban ruling thrown out : 28/05/2012 :

In a decision handed down on Friday, a Federal Court Judge has overturned a March 2012 Complaints Resolution Panel (CRP) finding that resulted in the Swisse vitamin company being told to withdraw a series of ads it was running which claimed that "You'll feel better on Swisse".

Following the CRP ruling, a Swisse spokesperson said "Swisse has expressed its strong disagreement at the recent decision of the Complaints Resolutions Panel. Swisse considers that the review process leading to the decision was fundamentally flawed and is contesting the findings vigorously through appropriate channels."

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Extra care needed with palliative care medications : 28/05/2012 :

Health professionals need to be vigilant to the symptom cascades that can arise in palliative care settings due to adverse effects of medicines, delegates to last week's NPS National Medicines Symposium heard.
 
Presenter Debra Rowett, who has a special interest in pharmacovigilance, said the medicine regime often becomes much more complex as patients near the end of their lives, when symptom control medicines are added to medicines for long term co-morbid disease.

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National Medicinewise award winners announced at NMS 2012 : 28/05/2012 :

The winners of the 2012 National MedicineWise Awards were announced at last week's NPS National Medicines Symposium by Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, Catherine King and NPS CEO, Dr Lynn Weekes.

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Consultation on medication labelling and packaging : 28/05/2012 :

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has released a consultation paper on medication labelling and packaging and is seeking comments on recommendations to change the presentation of information on the labels and packages of medicines.

The discussion paper follows a major review of packaging and labelling by the TGA designed to improve information that is presented to patients and consumers on how to take their medicines safely and effectively.

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RGH E-Bulletin: Apixaban for prevention of VTE after hip/knee replacement : 28/05/2012 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is Apixaban for prevention of VTE after hip/knee replacement.

"Apixaban functions as an oral anticoagulant by inhibiting the clotting factor Xa, resulting in decreased levels of thrombin. Apixaban is one of three orally active anticoagulants now available for subsidised supply in Australia through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, for the prevention of venous thromboembolism after hip or knee replacement. The others alternative agents are rivaroxaban and dabigatran."

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

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Trovas market share limited post June 1 but Pfizer likely to be happy : 25/05/2012 :

If the results of this week's AusPharm poll are representative of the pharmacy marketplace as a whole Pfizer will retain almost a third of the generic atorvastatin market share after the listing of the new brands on June 1.

This, despite the widespread antagonism towards the company from pharmacists following its decision to move to a direct supply model early in 2011.

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Seeking consumer insight into community pharmacy : 25/05/2012 :

A new research project funded by the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement will look at consumer needs, experiences and expectations of community pharmacy.

The Agreement's Research and Development Program has awarded the research project to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

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Undoit undone .... briefly : 25/05/2012 :

The sponsor of the weight loss product Undoit ('have your cake and eat it too') has cancelled the product's listing on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. As a result, the TGA's review of the product has been closed.

Undoit was the subject of a complaint lodged with the Complaints Resolution Committee by Dr Ken Harvey alleging that the therapeutic claims made for the product breached numerous provisions of the Therapeutic Goods Act.

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30-year trends show improvement in Aussie kids’ oral health : 25/05/2012 :

According to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), Australian children’s oral health has improved markedly over the last 30 years.

The report, Child Dental Health Survey Australia 2007: 30-year trends in child oral health, describes the oral health status of Australian children examined by school dental service staff in 2007. The report also examines long term trends to 2007.

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Pharmacist / Allied Health collaboration : 23/05/2012 :

One of the 5CPA research projects will explore ways of fostering better collaboration between the allied health professions and pharmacy.

The future health workplace is going to be very different from the one that we work in currently, simply because no government will be able to afford to fund the current approach in the face of the ageing population. The aim will be to have a “flexible, well trained workforce with clear roles and responsibilities built around core competencies, that works together to deliver best care to patients cost-effectively and continues to build their skills through effective training and teamwork”.

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PHARMeFOOTY weekly wrap : 23/05/2012 :

AFL Round 8

Round 8 of the 2012 AFL season started with the Magpies and the Cats, in a close encounter it was the Magpies that got over the line to secure the win by 2 goals. Other highlights of the round included the Crows thrashing a woeful Blues team by a mammoth 69 points at Etihad Stadium...

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18 teams to compete for Student Business Plan prize : 23/05/2012 :

Registrations for the 2012 National Student Business Plan Competition are now closed, with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia pleased to announce that 18 teams will compete for this year’s prize.
 
This year’s excellent registration result follows the success of the 2011 competition and includes multiple registrations from several schools and registration from first-time entrant University of South Australia.

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Poll: what brand(s) of generic atorvastatin? : 23/05/2012 :

Generic atorvastatin continues to be the topic of the year in community pharmacy. Last week saw the revelation that Ranbaxy is giving it away, presumably in order to 'flood' the market with stock to delay pharmacies from purchasing other brands. The Guild is said to be furious with the move, fearing repercussions for pharmacy in the PBAC statin cost-effectiveness review, due to report in July. Also, as reported on AusPharm yesterday, from June 1 there will be 11 brands to choose from.

What is your pharmacy going to do next? Please let us know by voting in this week's AusPharm poll.

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Debate over Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) testing continues : 23/05/2012 :

The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) yesterday called for the development of Australian evidence-based guidelines on PSA testing.

The call came after the recent release by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) of new guidelines which recommend against PSA based prostate cancer screening in men of any age group.

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MMR course comes with 2hrs free mentoring from Debbie Rigby & Geraldine Moses : 22/05/2012 :

Two hours free mentoring from either Geraldine Moses or Debbie Rigby will be offered to every attendee at the MMR Stage 1 preparatory training course which is being run as a special interest stream at the Australian College of Pharmacy 23rd Annual Conference 2012.

Both Geraldine and Debbie are well known and highly qualified facilitators of Medication Management Review Accreditation Workshops and offer a wealth of experience and practical insights.

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New report: Australia is second most expensive country for investing in clinical trials : 22/05/2012 :

The 2012 KPMG Competitive Alternatives Report shows that of the 14 countries under review, only Japan is a more expensive country in which to invest in clinical trials.

The report shows Sydney ranks 111th out of 113 in the list of most expensive cities – more expensive than every city except Tokyo and Osaka. Brisbane ranks 110th, Melbourne 108th and Adelaide 103rd.

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It's a depression, but is an antidepression indicated? : 22/05/2012 :

Depression is only second to hypertension as the most common chronic problem seen by Australian GPs. With two thirds of these consultations for depression resulting in a prescription for antidepressants the use of these medicines continues to rise in Australia.
 
The latest therapeutic program from NPS, Depression: Challenges in primary care, encourages GPs to carefully assess the severity of depressive symptoms in patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder and then consider whether an antidepressant is necessary.

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Problem with yesterday's premium version (e)news : 22/05/2012 :

A coding error in yesterday's premium version AusPharm(e)news resulted in some people receiving a truncated version of the e(news).

This error was corrected during the day. Those of you who would like to see it can download a complete version here.

Our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.

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Australian College of Pharmacy QLD Chapter Smart Business Series launches with Don Meij, Dominos Pizza : 21/05/2012 :

Next Tuesday 22 May (tomorrow), from 7:00pm to 9:00pm, the Australian College of Pharmacy Queensland Chapter will launch the first of the Smart Business Series seminars with guest speaker Don Meij (pictured right), CEO, Dominos Pizza.

Presenting on the topic Delivering results: Using the internet to grow your business, Don will share his expertise on the power of the internet and how it can move your small business forward, including how to harness innovation to drive operational efficiency and effectiveness.

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