Heart drugs may be as effective as angioplasty

When you look at the increases in drug costs, think about stories like this. If drug costs increase as a result of innovative ideas and result in less spending in another area (resulting in a net savings) isn't this a good thing?

From the Vancouver Province:
Hundreds of people with angina may be unnecessarily undergoing angioplasty -- a common procedure to clear clogged coronary arteries that carries a small but real risk of heart attack and stroke -- because drugs alone work just as well, Canadian researchers are reporting.

The study challenges the conventional thinking that angioplasty provides more freedom from chest pain than medication.

Researchers from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre could find no significant differences in symptoms between patients treated with angioplasty and those treated with modern-day drug therapy alone.

The benefit of the popular procedure on angina relief "may be substantially smaller than previously believed," the team writes in a study published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine. ...more

Drug spending in Canada hits $30B

From CBC News:
Spending on prescription and non-prescription drugs in Canada reached an estimated $30 billion, or $836 per person, last year, but the rate of increase is slowing significantly, according to a report.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information said total spending in 2009 rose by about $1.5 billion over the previous year, but that 5.1 per cent increase was "the lowest annual growth rate observed in more than a decade."

The institute's annual report on drug expenditure lists spending trends for prescribed and non-prescribed drugs by province and territory and whether the spending was by government-paid drug plans or private sources. It also includes international comparisons.

In 2009, drugs accounted for the second-largest share of total health care after hospitals — 16.4 per cent of the country's total $183-billion health-care bill, or about $30 billion. Hospitals consumed about $50 billion. ...more

New guidance for homeopathy use

From BBC News:/
The regulatory body for pharmacists in NI has proposed that patients be told that homeopathic products do not work, other than having a placebo effect.

The draft guidance comes following a report on homeopathy published earlier this year by the House of Commons Science committee.

It reviewed the evidence base for homeopathy and concluded that it was "not an efficacious form of treatment." ...more

Drug spending continues to grow as use of generics also increases

From the Globe and Mail:
Despite the recession, drug spending grew a robust 5.5 per cent in Canada last year, hitting $22.9-billion, newly released data show.

Canadians filled a staggering 483 million prescriptions in 2009 – an average of 14 each. Per capita retail drug spending was $680 last year, ranging from a high of $820 in Quebec to a low of $518 in British Columbia.

The most prescribed drugs were for blood pressure control (74 million), depression and anxiety (61 million), heartburn (33 million), and cholesterol-lowering (32 million). Hormone replacement therapy, despite controversy about its safety, remains popular with menopausal women, with 26 million prescriptions. ...more

Sleeping sickness breakthrough announced

From CBC News:
A breakthrough in treating sleeping sickness has been announced by British and Canadian researchers.

They say they have found a compound that can kill the parasite that causes the disease by halting its growth on an enzymatic level, opening the door to drugs that will be able to fight the disease. Sleeping sickness kills 30,000 Africans each year.

"This is one of the most significant findings made in recent years in terms of drug discovery and development for neglected diseases," said Prof. Paul Wyatt, director of the drug discovery for tropical diseases program at the University of Dundee, Scotland, in a release.

Sleeping sickness is a fatal parasitic disease that afflicts tens of thousands of sub-Saharan Africans globally. The disease, known as trypanosomiasis, spreads through the bite of a tsetse fly. ...more

Schweitzer says Canadian drugs still needed after reform

From the Great Falls (MT) Tribune:
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is still moving forward with his plan to import cheaper medicine from Canada, despite promises made in the health care reform recently passed by fellow Democrats in Washington D.C.

Schweitzer says the health care reform does far less than critics allege and supporters claim. He says prescription drugs will still be too expensive. ...more

B.C. woman sues three doctors, drug store and pharmacist for alleged negligence

From Metro News:
A woman who's been left with permanent, severe kidney damage is suing her family doctor, two specialists, a pharmacy and a pharmacist for prescribing and dispensing a drug that should never have been given to someone with her symptoms.

Angela Gray's statement of claim, filed in B.C. Supreme Court, says tests related to her pregnancy in November 2006 showed her blood pressure had spiked and her kidney function was abnormal. ...more

Pharmacists defend medicine prescription but doctors oppose

From the Times of Malta:
It is inconceivable that doctors should lambast the Health Minister's proposals for pharmacists to prescribe medicine, according to the chamber of pharmacists.

Martin Balzan, president of the Medical Association of Malta, said the MAM was "surprised and disappointed" that the Health Ministry was "considering abandoning the ethical principles in the prescription of medicines".

On Monday, Health Minister Joe Cassar said his ministry was working to expand the role of community pharmacists by giving them the power to prescribe medicine after appropriate training. This would bring Malta in line with practices in other countries such as the UK, where this kind of scheme was implemented in May 2006.

But the MAM reacted negatively, saying "the current Medicines Act prevents medical practitioners from dispensing medicines to protect patients from a potential conflict of interest between the prescriber and the dispenser who profits from the sale of medicines".

The association made further financially-related comments, saying the reform would lead to "unsafe practice and a conflict of interest, which will further raise the price of medicines". It called for the "liberalisation of pharmacy licences" for there to be competition and subsequent decreases in the cost of medicines.

The Chamber of Pharmacists called the comments "long exhausted, feeble, non sequitur arguments," adding it took "bona fide professionals to change a mentality and move with the times". ...more

Drug kiosk rollout awaits regulation

From the Hamilton Spectator:
You can get cash, drinks and even T-shirts quickly and conveniently from vending machines.

How about prescription drugs?

The Ontario government approved the concept of "remote dispensing" of medicines in Bill 179, passed late last year, such as through high-tech vending machines or pharmacy technicians in remote locations -- all with electronic links to real-live pharmacists.

Proponents tout remote dispensing as a way to have pharmacy service in remote or underserviced areas or in hospitals overnight when it's hard for a parent with a sick child to find a drugstore that's open.

"You could have these in small towns without pharmacies and save people a lot of time," said Peter Suma of PharmaTrust Inc., which makes high-tech drug dispensening machines that will be demonstrated to MPPs, political staff and bureaucrats at Queen's Park today. ...more

Facebook to track rogue pharmacists

From the Nation (Kenya):
A Facebook account has been set up for Kenyans to report pharmacists who give them fake drugs.

The site will provide a forum for those with complaints about sub-standard and counterfeit drugs in the Kenyan market to alert the Pharmacy and Poisons Board.

The move is part of an ambitious campaign by the board to regulate the industry and protect the public.

Consumers can report adverse drug reactions, counterfeit products, and unregistered practitioners through the social networking site.

The initiative is part of the board’s service charter launch activities and the 90-day Rapid Results Initiative unveiled on Monday by Medical Services permanent secretary James ole Kiyiapi. ...more

Gonorrhea risks becoming a superbug, expert warns

From CTV News:
The bacteria responsible for the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea are becoming so resistant to antibiotics in some parts of the world, they may soon reach superbug status, experts are warning.

Catherine Ison, a professor at the Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections in London, presented a report this week at the Society for General Microbiology Spring Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, discussing the growing problem of antibiotic resistance among gonorrhea.

She highlighted the possibility that strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae will soon become resistant to all current treatment options.

Ison said some strains of gonorrhea-causing bacteria are now showing decreased sensitivity to the current antibiotics used to treat them: ceftriaxone and cefixime.

"Ceftriaxone and cefixime are still very effective but there are signs that resistance particularly to cefixime is emerging and soon these drugs may not be a good choice," she said in a statement released by the Society for General Microbiology. ...more/

Proposed N.S. legislation will see pharmacists administer vaccines

From the Winnipeg Free Press:
In a move aimed at relieving some of the stress in Nova Scotia's health-care system, pharmacists will be able to administer vaccines by injection and monitor drug therapy under proposed amendments to the province's Pharmacy Act.

Health Minister Maureen MacDonald said Monday the goal is to take advantage of a pool of qualified professionals in order to free up doctors to concentrate on other areas of health care.

"We in the health-care system, like many other professions, are facing a demographic crunch," said MacDonald. "This is part of expanding the health-care team ... and giving them (pharmacists) a greater scope of practice in order to help patients."

Although MacDonald said the move will create efficiencies in the health system, she said she was unable to put a dollar figure on any potential savings. ...more

Health ministry mulls law to allow female pharmacists, opticians to work in public

From the Los Angeles Times:
Saudi Arabia has been inching forward in its efforts to bring a measure of gender equality to the kingdom, starting by removing some professional barriers to women.

Last month the justice minister announced his intention to back a law that would allow female lawyers to argue in court, and now the Saudi newspaper Al Riyadh is reporting that the Ministry of Health is considering a similar law for women in certain fields of healthcare.

The proposed law would lift a ban on female pharmacists and opticians working in pharmacies, community clinics and optical shops. Currently women in these fields are not allowed to work outside hospitals. ...more

Doctors strongly against prescription of medicines by pharmacists

This sounds remarkably similar to what we have heard in Canada...

From the Times of Malta:
The Medical Association has strongly criticised a declaration by the Minister of Health than pharmacists could soon be given the power to prescribe certain medicines.

Speaking during the opening of a symposium, Dr Cassar said prescribing pharmacists existed in other countries. In fact, in May 2006 British nurses and pharmacists who had undergone the appropriate training were able to prescribe medicines.

The doctors' union said however that the Medicines Act prevents medical practitioners from dispensing medicine, thus protecting patients from a potential conflict of interest between the prescriber and the dispenser who profits from the sale of medicines.

"The Medical Association of Malta is surprised and disappointed that the Health Ministry is considering abandoning the ethical principles in the prescription of medicines. Patients have the right to be diagnosed by a registered medical practitioner before a medicine can be prescribed. This is a basic tenet of patient safety," the MAM said. ...more

Pharmacy grads for shortage still 2 years off

From CBC News:
Administrators at the Maritimes' only pharmacy school have no plans to increase enrollment but are expecting the first graduates from the University of Waterloo can help address a national shortage of pharmacists.

With hundreds of pharmacist jobs vacant across the country, Neil MacKinnon, associate director with Dalhousie University's pharmacy program, said his school has already moved to address the shortage.

"About five or six years ago we increased our class size from 65 students per year to 90," said MacKinnon.

"There's one new pharmacy school that opened up in Canada two years ago at the University of Waterloo."

That new school will release its first graduates into the job market in two years.

The P.E.I. Pharmacists Association told CBC News this week the national shortage means there is constant strain on the 180 pharmacists in the province. ...more

Uzbekistan limits foreign travel for doctors

This isn't really a pharmacy story, but I thought it was a pretty interesting international medical story:

From the Washington Post:
Authorities in Uzbekistan have restricted the country's doctors from freely traveling abroad to international medical conferences, a think tank in the Central Asian nation said Friday.

Limiting Uzbek doctors' exposure to foreign expertise is likely to further hinder the authoritarian ex-Soviet nation's troubled health care system, which has struggled to deal with outbreaks of HIV and tuberculosis.

The Expert Working Group, an independent think-tank in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, said a recently approved government decree has created strict requirements for medical personnel wishing to leave the country, even if only for personal reasons.

Sukhrobjon Ismoilov of the think tank said the order to limit the movement of medical personnel was in flagrant violation of the country's constitution, which grants Uzbek citizens the right to freely leave the country.

Health workers traveling to medical conferences abroad must provide copies of their speeches to the Health Ministry in advance of departure. The group also said physicians will have to submit a report on their activities overseas to government officials within three days of their return, or risk punitive measures and a travel ban. ...more

Oncology pharmacists find their role rewarding

From the Montreal Gazette:
There are few things as devastating as being diagnosed with a critical illness such as cancer.

In 2009, roughly 171,000 people embarked on that journey nationwide. The fortunate have a support system rich with loved ones and a highly specialized medical team.

Gabriel Gazzé has been a member of one such team at the Royal Victoria Hospital for 16 years. He's not a doctor or a nurse. He's a pharmacist. And although you might not realize it, he and other pharmacists in his position are often a crucial source of information and support for people undergoing cancer treatments.

"A big misconception about the profession is that pharmacists have a low profile in hospital settings," Gazzé said. "We actually play a big role in patient care, more than ever before."

In health care institutions, pharmacists work as part of a collaborative medical team alongside doctors and other medical specialists in many departments, and a field as multifaceted as oncology is no exception. ...more

Codeine ban will induce headaches: pharmacists

From the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald:
Big changes to the way codeine tablets such as Nurofen Plus and Panadeine are sold are expected to cause a headache for pharmacists and customers.

From May 1, all combination medications containing codeine, which are used by 4 million Australians each year, will be rescheduled.

Packs containing up to 12 milligrams of codeine will be kept behind the counter and dispensed only by a pharmacist who will record the customer's details. This includes 12-tablet and 24-tablet packs of Nurofen Plus and Panadeine.

Customers will have to obtain a prescription for a 48-tablet pack or larger, leading many to stock up before so-called Codeine May Day.

The National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee ordered the changes over concerns that 1 in 20,000 people abused combination analgesics containing codeine and ibuprofen, which can cause perforated gastric ulcers and kidney failure. ...more

Short counselling session with pharmacist improves smoker's odds of quitting

From the Regina Leader Post:
A few minutes of counselling from a pharmacist can dramatically improve the odds of a smoker butting out for good.

"Research shows that even brief counselling will improve a smoker's ability to quit," said Janice Burgess, director of Professional Practice for the Pharmacists' Association of Saskatchewan. "A brief intervention can be just three to five minutes where the pharmacist might ask you some questions to help determine how ready you may be to actually quit."

Through the Partnership to Assist With the Cessation of Tobacco (PACT) program, more than 300 Saskatchewan pharmacists in 60 communities are trained to help residents quit smoking.

PACT pharmacists can advise residents about medications to help them quit, strategies to help them reduce the amount they smoke and assess why they smoke.

The success rate for smokers who quit "cold turkey" and receive no medical treatment or counselling is five per cent. Success rises to 10 per cent with brief advice and jumps to 30 per cent if behavioural therapy is combined with medication, Burgess said. ...more

New pharmacy code continues opt-outs over beliefs

From BBC News:
Pharmacists across the UK have been told they can continue to refuse to prescribe items that might clash with their personal religious beliefs.

A revised code of conduct from the new industry regulator will allow staff to opt out of providing items such as the morning-after pill and contraception.

But they may in future have to give customers details of alternative shops.

The National Secular Society wanted the General Pharmaceutical Council to scrap the so-called conscience clause.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is to take over the regulation of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and the registration of pharmacy premises from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society later this year. ...more