Pharmacy frustration

From the St. John's (NL) Telegram:
It's happened to Burin Peninsula resident Madeline Broydell and many others with chronic illnesses.

Here's how it usually plays out. Broydell is low on the medications she uses to control her diabetes and high blood pressure, but her doctor is out of town and is unavailable to write her a new prescription.

She pays a visit to Doug Stanley, a pharmacist at Burin Pharmacy, who's been filling her prescriptions for many years and knows her medical background almost as well as her doctor.

But Stanley throws up his hands. Without a written prescription from a medical doctor, he can't help Broydell.

He tells her to visit the emergency department at the local hospital in order to get a written prescription, a process that could take many hours and forces her to expose herself to an environment filled with sick, possibly contagious patients.

"It's very frustrating," Broydell said Friday from her home in Burin Bay Arm. "I've ran into this problem a couple of times. ...more

Let us renew meds, save cash: N.L. pharmacists

From CBC News:
Pharmacists in Newfoundland and Labrador are asking the provincial government for authority to extend drug prescriptions, on grounds it would improve patient care and save money.

The pharmacists say millions of dollars are being unnecessarily spent because too many patients head to emergency rooms for treatment or prescriptions, when better alternatives could be made available.

Wayne Morris, president of the Newfoundland Council of Community Pharmacy Owners, said he sees about two or three people each day who must either face not taking medications or heading to hospitals for prescriptions.

The consequences, he said, can be serious.

"If somebody's on insulin and can't get it for a week or 10 days, [then] basically what you have to realize is that they are going to end up in hospital," said Morris, who owns a pharmacy in Grand Falls-Windsor. ...more

Vacations put extra strain on pharmacist shortage

From CBC News:
A drop in new pharmacy graduates has exacerbated a shortage of professionals staffing pharmacies across Newfoundland and Labrador, with some forced to close during normal operating hours to accommodate vacation requests.

"Most of us are working extra hours all the time," said Rod Forsey, president of the Pharmacists' Association of Newfoundland and Labrador.

"This summer, with the number of vacations that have to be covered and the shortage of pharmacists, a lot of pharmacies are reducing their hours during slower periods, like on weekends, just to get by, basically," Forsey told CBC News Monday. ...more

Morning-after pill expected to soon be available over the counter

From the Grand Falls-Windsor (NL) Advertiser:
When the province's health minister signs off on legislation for the morning-after pill, Newfoundlanders will join the ranks of countries with some of the easiest access to emergency contraception.

Known as Plan B, the drug was only available at first with a doctor's prescription.

Ottawa allowed the pill to be sold without a prescription as of 2005, but a consumer could only obtain it after talking first to a pharmacist.

Sandra Carey, a pharmacist in Grand Falls-Windsor and president of the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA), said the executive of her group agreed the drug, called Plan B (Levon-orgestrel) by its manufacturer, is safe.

"The executive of my group had the option to accept or reject the recommendation from the recommendations that have come down from NDSAC (National Drug Scheduling Advisory Committee), and they have decided to accept it," she said. ...more

Local pharmacist reappointed president of national regulatory body

From the Grand Falls Windsor (NL) Advertiser:
When Grand Falls-Windsor pharmacist Sandra Carey was reappointed in May to be the returning president of the national pharmacy board, an overseas trip wasn't the first thing on her mind.

But shortly after that, Ms. Carey, who works at the Wal-Mart pharmacy, found herself going to Geneva, Switzerland, at the European headquarters of the United Nations.

She represented the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA) at the International Conference for Health Care Professionals, where people in the field from all over the world met to discuss a topic that Newfoundlanders, and the central region in particular, can relate to: a global health care crisis.

"The world is becoming smaller," said Ms. Carey. "People in developing countries are hearing that there's good money to be made in Canada and the U.S. and they're finding that there's a major shift. This is creating a crisis in these developing countries because there are not enough people to look after the people there.

While doctor and nurse shortages are a common topic in this province as well as on a global level, that list includes pharmacists as well. ...more

NDP questions Williams over PR role in cancer drug approval

From CBC News:
Newfoundland and Labrador's governing Tories were focused on public relations, not just health, while approving a new cancer drug, the New Democratic Party says.

In October 2005, then Health Minister John Ottenheimer solicited cabinet support for subsidizing Herceptin, an expensive but effective drug offered to breast cancer patients in the early stages of the disease.

The briefing document, which has been tabled as an exhibit at the judicial inquiry now examining how a St. John's pathology lab produced hundreds of inaccurate hormone receptor test results, included arguments in favour of approving the drug. ...more

Doctors warn of potential dangers of OxyContin

From CTV News:
Canadian physicians are warning of the potential dangers of the prescription painkiller OxyContin following a high-profile case in which a Newfoundland and Labrador doctor was convicted of trafficking the potentially addictive narcotic.

On Monday, Dr. Sean Buckingham was convicted of five counts of sexual assault, six counts of trafficking painkillers such as OxyContin and lorazepam (sold under the name Ativan), and one count of assault.

Witnesses testified during the two-month trial that Buckingham provided them with drugs in exchange for money and sexual favours over a two-year period. ...more

Pharmacists face dilemma over dispensing narcotics: provincial board

From the (Corner Brook, NF) Western Star:
Pharmacists in this province are finding themselves in a dilemma over dispensing narcotics like OxyContin, the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board says.

"The dilemma is you don't want to be sucked in by people abusing it," said Don Rowe, secretary-registrar of the board. "You always have to be vigilant looking for potential abuse or signs of it, but at the same time not making a legitimate customer feel like some kind of a criminal just because they have been prescribed a drug like OxyContin or Percocet or whatever."

The "sucking in" hasn't always come from only patients, as the recent conviction of St. John's physician Dr. Sean Buckingham made evident. Last week, Buckingham was convicted of 12 counts of sexual assault, assault and drug trafficking in Newfoundland Supreme Court. Buckingham, who ran a practice on Queen's Road, was found guilty of having provided several former patients with prescription drugs, including OxyContin and Ativan, in return for sexual favours....more

Sex & drugs case hurts pain care: MDs

From the National Review of Medicine:
Whether St John's, NL, family physician Dr Sean Buckingham gave drug addicts opioid prescriptions in exchange for sex is for the jury in his ongoing trial to decide. But pain care physicians from across Newfoundland and Canada fear his alleged crimes have already done their damage by making MDs too afraid to prescribe strong pain meds.

Dr Buckingham was first arrested in May 2005 after a long-running investigation by police that involved wire-tapping, raids and 24-hour surveillance, called Operation Remedy. He is currently facing 23 charges, ranging from drug trafficking to sexual assault. During the last week of October, the jury heard shocking testimony from three women who allege they had sex with Dr Buckingham in exchange for prescriptions for opioids painkillers. ...more