From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:
Pharmacists may one day gain limited prescription powers to ease pressure on GPs.
Advocates say pharmacists are well qualified for the extra role.
Tasmania's Health Minister, Lara Giddings, says GP numbers are expected to fall as demand grows.
She says pharmacy prescription is one of several solutions that should be considered. ...more
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Tough rules coming for cough medicine
From the Batemans Bay Post Star (NSW, Australia)
Children younger than two years will soon have to see a doctor if they need cough syrup.
The National Drugs and Scheduling Committee has decided sedating antihistamines, found in medicines like Demazin and Dimetapp, will be classified as prescription medicines from September 1.
The decision follows reports of bad reactions like agitation, insomnia, hallucinations and oversedation in children in the US and UK.
At the moment, the medicines could only be bought under pharmacist supervision, Surf Beach Pharmacy pharmacist in charge Renee Hall said. ...more
Children younger than two years will soon have to see a doctor if they need cough syrup.
The National Drugs and Scheduling Committee has decided sedating antihistamines, found in medicines like Demazin and Dimetapp, will be classified as prescription medicines from September 1.
The decision follows reports of bad reactions like agitation, insomnia, hallucinations and oversedation in children in the US and UK.
At the moment, the medicines could only be bought under pharmacist supervision, Surf Beach Pharmacy pharmacist in charge Renee Hall said. ...more
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Coles's pharmacy role in doubt after court ruling
From the Sydney (Australia) Morning News:
Wesfarmers-owned Coles's back-door entry into the $9 billion pharmacy sector appears under threat after a court ruled that its purchase of a Sydney-based cut-price pharmacy chain may have breached laws restricting ownership to qualified pharmacists.
The threat comes after the NSW Supreme Court judge Peter Young ruled yesterday that because Pharmacy Direct, a mostly online chemist that Coles bought two years ago, is not owned by a pharmacist, it has breached the pharmacy act.
Justice Young is yet to make his final orders, but when the case resumes later this month he could force Wesfarmers to transfer or sell Pharmacy Direct to a pharmacist or pharmacist-owned corporation.
The retailer, which Coles bought for $56 million, is one of only 30 pharmacies in NSW that operates under a corporate licence. It claimed it had been acting lawfully since Coles bought the business in 2006 from the founder and pharmacist Peter Brown. However, Coles was widely criticised by the industry as having used a loophole to encroach on the territory held by mostly independently owned chemists. ...more
Wesfarmers-owned Coles's back-door entry into the $9 billion pharmacy sector appears under threat after a court ruled that its purchase of a Sydney-based cut-price pharmacy chain may have breached laws restricting ownership to qualified pharmacists.
The threat comes after the NSW Supreme Court judge Peter Young ruled yesterday that because Pharmacy Direct, a mostly online chemist that Coles bought two years ago, is not owned by a pharmacist, it has breached the pharmacy act.
Justice Young is yet to make his final orders, but when the case resumes later this month he could force Wesfarmers to transfer or sell Pharmacy Direct to a pharmacist or pharmacist-owned corporation.
The retailer, which Coles bought for $56 million, is one of only 30 pharmacies in NSW that operates under a corporate licence. It claimed it had been acting lawfully since Coles bought the business in 2006 from the founder and pharmacist Peter Brown. However, Coles was widely criticised by the industry as having used a loophole to encroach on the territory held by mostly independently owned chemists. ...more
Sunday, February 03, 2008
AMA cautions against pharmacist sick certificates
Australian pharmacists can now write a legal sick note for their patients (and charge for this service). As expected, physicians are not happy about this. I'm not so sure how I feel about this one. Is a pharmacist really able to make an assessment that a person is too sick to go to work or school?
From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) says allowing pharmacists to write sick certificates could have serious repercussions for pharmacists, and lead to misdiagnosis.
Pharmacists across Australia will soon be able to issue medical certificates to sick workers in need of a day off.
However AMA national president Doctor Rosanna Capolingua says it could mean some people will not receive appropriate treatment for a serious illnesses.
"Apart from something such as a headache which could turn out to be significantly serious like meningitis, a tummy upset or a gastroenteritis which is a viral infection, it could in fact be something as serious as a bleeding ulcer," she said. ...more
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