Editorial
Welcome to the December 2009 edition of i2p - Information to Pharmacists E-Magazine.
When i2P first began in February 2000, it was decided that a fortnightly publication might prove to be the optimum publishing cycle.
This thought was soon dispelled as it was found that having sufficient content to maintain this cycle became a problem.
Oh for those quieter times!
The cycle then became monthly and has been maintained up to now.
The problem is now coping with the volume of news and opinion that is generated on a daily basis.
Very much the reverse of the year 2000 - a statement for our time and how the pace of pharmacy life has increased.
Columns
Rollo Manning: Pharma-Goss
Barry Urquhart: Marketing Focus
Harvey Mackay: Strategic ThinkingRecent Comments
Volume 1 Number 1
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Volume 1 Number 4
Volume 1 Number 5
Volume 1 Number 6
Volume 1 Number 7
Volume 2 Number 1
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Volume 2 Number 3
Volume 2 Number 4
Volume 2 Number 5
Volume 2 Number 6
Volume 2 Number 7
Volume 2 Number 8
Volume 2 Number 9
Volume 2 Number 10
Volume 2 Number 11
Volume 3 Number 1
Volume 3 Number 2
Volume 3 Number 3
Volume 3 Number 4
Volume 3 Number 5
Volume 3 Number 6
Volume 3 Number 7
Volume 3 Number 8
Volume 3 Number 9
Volume 3 Number 10
Volume 3 Number 11
Volume 4 Number 1
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Volume 4 Number 3
Volume 4 Number 4
Volume 4 Number 5
Volume 4 Number 6
Volume 4 Number 7
Volume 4 Number 8
Volume 4 Number 9
Volume 4 Number 10
Volume 4 Number 11
Volume 5 Number 1
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Volume 5 Number 3
Volume 5 Number 4
Volume 5 Number 5
Volume 5 Number 6
Volume 5 Number 7
Volume 5 Number 8
Volume 5 Number 9
Volume 5 Number 10
Volume 5 Number 11
Volume 6 Number 1
Volume 6 Number 2
Volume 6 Number 3
Volume 6 Number 4
Volume 6 Number 5
Volume 6 Number 6
Pharma News
Hospital News
Mark Neuenschwander: I’ve been thinking about Roy Rogers, meaningful use, and wet cement. | open full screen
Health Politics
James Ellerson: For some pharmacists the truth will be ‘inconvenient’. WHY is it so?? | open full screen
Dr David More: An Insider's Comment on NEHTA's PerformanceClimate Change
EPublications
For some pharmacists the truth will be ‘inconvenient’. WHY is it so??
Sir Winston Churchill said “Truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but, in the end, there it is.”
Elvis Presley said “Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away.”
At the PAC 2009 Conference John Menadue’s forthright messages made it abundantly clear that the sun was shining very brightly indeed.
Here are the ‘message sticks’ that resonated with me:
About that "Un-Invitation"
Dr John Dunlop (PGDipPharm, MPharm, DPharm(Auck), FACPP, FNZCP, FPSNZ, MCAPA)
It was interesting reading John Menadue’s speech given at the Pharmacy Australia Congress in Sydney in October.
It was even more interesting to read of the UN-invitation by the Queensland branch of the College of Pharmacy Practice and Management, the stance taken by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society, to support only pharmacy activities provided from within a community pharmacy.
How draconian is that?
Research has demonstrated, as has the low uptake of new professional services from within a community pharmacy, that the existing community pharmacy model is not compatible with the implementation of these new professional opportunities.
The two major arguments put forward are ‘lack of time’ and ‘lack of funding’.
A Green Pharmacy is Gold
Simon Divecha, Director of GreenMode, a consultancy that assist business and people to find their carbon and sustainable advantages spoke at the recent Pharmacy 2009 Conference.
Simon has assisted businesses including BP Solar, Origin Energy, Lend Lease, ANZ and IAG.
His challenge to community pharmacy is to identify and take advantage of the opportunities that exist for businesses that have such close relationships with their local communities.
What are we doing to ourselves?
Over the last months, I've noticed the position taken by both the Guild as well as individual pharmacists on our on-line forums.
In his recent address Mr John Menadue poses the question - are pharmacists the most change-resistant health profession?
And if so, what is our future likely to hold?
What can we do about it?
Personally, I have to agree with him - if we as a group - and not just the Guild, DON'T take innovation as a prerequisite for how we practice our profession, then in 20 years time, what will we have left?
Picture - the wood for the trees
Another year has gone by and what have we done with technology in the health sector?
A good question that deserves a long and detailed review as a written dissertation by somebody learned and influential in health informatics, government, consulting or from the many agencies, departments and committees engaged in delivering e-health service to the Australian public; notably as a value proposition for the tax payers in the greater voting public cohort.
Advancing Self Care
Imagine a pharmacy that had a range of eye catching kiosks that utilised easy to use touch screen technology.
Not passive kiosks, but kiosks that are interactive with customers/patients to efficiently provide a perceived need.
It’s not a new idea, but the marketing of health care through kiosks certainly represents an organised method of transferring information to customers/patients and assisting them to make good health decisions.
One current form of kiosk that is beginning to take hold in Europe and the US is the vision kiosk.
Wind Farm will Power Sydney's Desalination Plant
Source: AAP NewsWire
Communications Technology - a nudge from the big end of town
National Health IT assumed prominence recently when the National Business Council of Australia wrote directly to prime minister, Kevin Rudd, urging him to create a focus on communications technology and to invest appropriate funds.
I wonder if they were aware of the organisational performance 0f NEHTA and their inability to date, to actually deliver suitable infrastructure and systems.
And with $'s millions already wasted by NEHTA I am sure there is hesitancy by government to spend even more, given the dismal track record to date.
Health communications is stuck in a deep groove.
But it is interesting to note that the Business Council of Australia see productivity and investment opportunities in health if only the primary health players could integrate better and talk to one another.
Shared health communications underpins this potential benefit as the many writers for i2P have continually pointed out.
With the big end of town taking more interest, maybe government and health professionals can align themselves more fluidly.
A read of David More's blog article from a NEHTA insider in this edition of i2P, leaves you still wondering how an alignment can take place without removing the NEHTA structure completely.
Health info needs urgent technological injection
Source: Industry Search -24/11/2009
http://www.industrysearch.com.au/Features/Health-info-needs-urgent-technological-injection-4306
Read the BCA letter in full here
Powering up by osmosis
An unusual form of renewable energy has emerged recently in a novel format involving the use of fresh water and salt water interaction across a membrane that creates osmotic pressure.
This pressure has been demonstrated to be able to drive a turbine that can produce an electric current.
Osmotic pressure is well known in medicine with adjustments having to be made to eye drop and injection formulas to minimise the pain associated with the administration of these medicine forms.
The process is a more controllable form of natural energy when compared with weather-dependent versions of energy generation (solar, wind, tidal etc) and has a reasonably small and discrete footprint in the environment.
With a bit of imagination it is not too far of a stretch to have the salt water filtered through another form of membrane to create fresh water to be recycled within a closed system.
Norway tries osmotic power to harnessing power of salt
Source: Industry Search
http://www.industrysearch.com.au/News/Norway-tries-osmotic-power-to-harnessing-power-of-salt-42094
Insuring the Disabled
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is to be commended for the initiative in having a look at the feasibility of creating a no fault disability insurance scheme.
Disability can cause disaster to any family structure and can be a constant drain on financial resources that can add to further stresses up to, and involving bankruptcies.
By putting in place a proper financial underpin, each family member is enabled to be productive and self-sustaining. This can create a net gain to the taxation base when viewed globally, to include service providers and industries that can feed off that activity stream.
PM calls for national disability reforms
Source:DPS Guide to Aged Care
http://www.agedcareguide.com.au/news.asp?newsid=4178
Should patents apply to the natural world?
I can't but help wonder if the move to be able to patent all things natural is a smart move.
Take for example the Neam tree that grows wild in the northern part of Australia.
The leaves of this tree make a great insect repellent with no known side effects.
An entrepreneurial Australian a few years back, decided to grow these trees and was surprised to have legal documents served on him claiming royalties and damages from some obscure US company that had registered a patent for all things Neam.
Unfortunately, there was no legal defence for the Australian grower.
Now there is an outcry by vested interests because the Australian government has resisted pressures to allow the patenting of human genes.
All sorts of calamities are therefore predicted for the local biotech industries.
But I wonder if these claims will prove to be valid?
Follow the debate in this article:
Ban drives 'biotech industry to its knees'
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,26309574-5011761,00.html?from=public_rss
Source: AAP
Public Hospitals - Time they were fixed
Queensland Health struggles through another drama after using instruments that had been used on patients and left unsterilised.
But it's not just Bundaberg Hospital that is sick - the entire Australian hospital system needs a radical overhaul.
The Rudd government had promised to "fix" the problem after taking office, but so far has not made any noticeable progress.
Read about the latest problem.
Qld Health cleaning up after dental sterilisation scare
Source: ABC Online
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/18/2745842.htm
By Chris O'Brien
Patient uses initiative to attract nurses
If anyone has ever been a patient in a hospital and tried the buzzer to get assistance from a nurse, then here is a new innovation to get attention.
Not that the nursing fraternity should shoulder the blame.
It's the politicians and the lack of political will to solve this issue and many others.
Congratulations to the patient and his initiative in dialling triple O.
Read the full story here:
Man rings triple-0 from hospital bed
Source: ABC Online
by Cate Grant
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/18/2745829.htm
What's good for climate is good for health
Health professionals from around the world are slowly waking up to the fact that climate change can induce adverse effects on health.
At i2P we have been carrying messages for just on two years, regarding climate change effects, including research reports from our own writer Con Berbatis, in the hope that official pharmacy would see the need and develop policies and strategies for pharmacists to adopt.
Now, with the formation of the International Climate and Health Council a recognised forum is available to be addressed.
Will pharmacists be given a seat at the table?
Perhaps the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia should find out.
Health Professionals Around The World Launch The International Climate And Health Council
Source: Medical News Today
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172330.php?nfid=20247
Ageing slowly and safely
The ageing process is relentless with function loss noticeably diminishing over the age of 60.
Supplementation of nutrients holds one key to slowing down some of the processes, in particular the loss of muscle mass and the subsequent aches and pains that follow as the skeletal system is no longer held together in an optimum manner.
This process can be a contributor to falls and more serious damage.
Not being able to adequately stay on your feet as you age, robs you of your independence.
It would seem that a strategy of slowing down slowly might be prudent for the age demographic entering retirement - the "baby-boomers".
Antioxidants could help preserve muscle strength
Source: Reuters Health
By Marilynn Larkin
Are we planning for future skill shortages?
National Seniors Agency have published a report indicating that Australia will have a shortfall of 1.4 million workers by 2025.
This shortage will also be reflected in the profession of pharmacy.
It is pointed out that a smart move would be to match an improved workplace to match specific requirements for mature-aged employees and thus retain them for longer periods..
APESMA has recently published an online survey in an endeavour to poll employed pharmacists on the issues that affect them specifically. Obviously, this is a move in the right direction, and much of what they are polling has a direct relationship to mature-aged employees.
So what is community pharmacy doing to retain their senior pharmacists?
Very little, it seems.
i2P asked Mark Coleman to comment and his commentary appears below the news item:
1 CAM – Making Informed Choices
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PDF version | Loretta Marron OAM BSc |
From a Skeptics Perspective: Loretta Marron, a science graduate with a business background, was Australian Skeptic of the Year for 2007 and in 2011. She is the Chief Executive Officer of the Friends of Science in Medicine and that organisation won Australian Skeptic of the Year for 2012. On Australia Day 2014 she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM ) for "service to community health" Loretta edits the websites www.healthinformation.com.au & www.scienceinmedicine.org.au | |
A diagnosis of cancer in 2003, put me in the firing line for miracle cures and magical remedies. My treatments lasted for four months leaving me feeling both distressed and run-down. Media marketing jingles such as “put your health first”, “it works for me”, “are you feeling 100%” and many, many more encouraged me to self-medicate to improve my health, but first and foremost, I wanted information and it seems I’m not alone and the good news is that something is being done about it.
I was not the only one with health problems in 2003. That same year, 87 people were identified as having suffered adverse reactions and 19 were admitted to hospital after taking the travel sickness medication Travacalm, one of Sydney-based PAN Pharmaceutical’s over the counter medications. At that time, PAN was a substantial contract manufacturer of complementary and over-the-counter medications, who guaranteed that they could provide a continued supply of products that complied with TGA regulatory requirements, in respect of quality assurance, to a large number of smaller sponsors and distributors of complementary medicines.
A subsequent investigation into PAN’s practices identified substandard manufacturing processes, including ingredient substitution, excessive amounts of some ingredients in products and manipulation of test data . On April 28 2003, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) cancelled PAN’s licence and ordered what may be the world’s biggest medicines recall . The company’s approval to supply over 1600 export products was withdrawn and for reasons of “quality and safety” 219 products were cancelled from the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. Across Australia pharmacy and supermarket shelves were cleared of PAN manufactured products. It was a turning point in Australia’s growing love affair with natural medicines.
An Expert Committee was subsequently commissioned to report on the status of Complementary Medicines (CMs) in the Australian health system. The committees report made recommendations “to facilitate safe, appropriate and effective use of CMs”. They also raised the need for “consumers and health professionals to have ‘accurate, reliable and independent information’ about CMs and to have appropriate skills to ‘interpret available information’ and ‘discriminate between reliable and unreliable information’ to allow them to make informed decisions about the use of CMs .”
In early 2008, a study by the National Prescription Service (NPS) confirmed that people really did want to make informed choices on CMs and in June that year, a project was undertaken to identify suitable complementary resources that will meet the CM information needs of both consumers and health practitioners.
On 18 November 2008, the NPS published the results of research which looked at the attitudes of “consumers, GPs and pharmacists towards complementary medicines; communication about complementary medicine use; information sources and information gaps and needs.” The studies also showed that people wanted to talk to their GP’s and pharmacists about CM’s but that only 40% of these health care providers felt confident discussing them. With the lack of information available, such as efficacy, side effects, dosage, potential interactions with conventional medication, they also had difficulty in answering patient questions.
Following the research, the NPS requested an ‘Expressions of Interest’ from groups across Australia to “conduct a comprehensive review of the currently available CM information resources to identify high quality resources that can be made accessible to all Australian health professionals and consumers in the future”. In July the Queensland-based Mater Hospital (Adverse Medicines Events), University of Queensland and Bond University (evidence-based medicine) consortium won the project. The team was 20-person strong, and while it was led by orthodox trained health practitioners, it also included a validation group of national experts in CM from around Australia including clinicians, researchers, naturopaths and consumers.
On 16 March 2009, a media announcement from the NPS identified a two tier recommendation of the review, which identified the “highest quality complementary medicines resources” that both “health professionals and consumers can now refer to certain complementary medicine information resources with confidence” .
The top four resources are as follows:
1. Natural Standard (online subscription database package with access to detailed and brief complementary medicine monographs.
2. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (Health Professional Edition).
3. Natural Standard - Professional monographs (subset of Natural Standard).
4. Herbal Medicines & Dietary Supplements package (via MedicinesComplete).
These are all subscription resources and it is unlikely that free access to any of these will happen until after June 2010.
Once this happens, hopefully pharmacists will stock their shelves with products selected on the basis of patient benefit rather than profit. They will be able to give advice based on up-to-date CM research and at long last, consumers and health practitioners will be in a better position to make informed choices.
[i] PAN Pharmaceuticals Ltd - regulatory action and product recall information
http://www.tga.gov.au/recalls/2003/pan.htm
[ii] List of products manufactured by Pan Pharmaceuticals Ltd and supplied by various sponsors and distributors advertised for consumer level recall.
http://www.tga.gov.au/recalls/2003/nonpanrec.htm
TGA reminds Australians of the potential dangers of Pan Pharmaceuticals
http://www.tga.gov.au/media/2003/030824pan.htm
[iii] Expert Committee on Complementary Medicines in the Health System.
http://www.tga.gov.au/docs/html/cmreport.htm
[iv] Complementary medicine use: first findings from NPS survey 19 November 2008
Fast accessible complementary medicines 2 December 2008
More information needed about complementary medicines 2 December 2008
NPS recommendations on natural, alternative and complementary medicines information 11 December 2008
[v] NPS findings on attitudes towards complementary medicines 18 November 2008
[vi] Highest quality complementary medicine recourses identified 16 March 2009
Return to homeResearch Reports
Dr Andrew Byrne & Associates: Does methadone cause QT problems or is it often viral?Practice Development
Dr John Dunlop (PGDipPharm, MPharm, DPharm(Auck), FACPP, FNZCP, FPSNZ, MCAPA): About that "Un-Invitation" | open full screen
Dr Linda Bryant (PGDipPharm, MPharm, DPharm(Auck), FACPP, FNZCP, FPSNZ, MCAPA): I just want them to THINK! | open full screen
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