drugs of dependence
Regulators expect pharmacists to be ‘gate keepers’
PDL has issued a practice alert discussing incidents involving drugs of dependence The PDL Professional Officers often see incident reports or regulatory notifications involving high risk medications such as S8 items and …
Multiple drugs implicated in death of doctor-shopping patient
The Chief Pharmacist of Tasmania says doctors are failing to recognise the risks of psychoactive drugs, and calls for pharmacists to be better utilised The death of a 44-year-old Tasmanian …
Training for SafeScript
When the system launches in October this year, Victorian prescribers and pharmacists will have access to information regarding the history and usage of drugs of abuse SafeScript, the Victorian Government’s …
A nudge in the right direction
Lowering the default amount of opioid pills in EMRs may reduce prescribing in midst of an opioid crisis, new study finds A new study published in JAMA Surgery has found …
Research Roundup
Codeine dependence, cannabinoids, acute dental pain and deprescribing… Debbie Rigby covers the latest research relevant to pharmacists Identifying and treating codeine dependence: a systematic review Codeine dependence is a significant …
‘Wake-up call’ for real time monitoring
Pharmacy and medical bodies have written to the TGA, calling for national script monitoring to be implemented urgently In its consultation paper on options for a regulatory response regarding prescription …
‘Urgency’ to implement real-time script monitoring: coroner
An inquest into four deaths related to opioid prescribing and doctor shopping has highlighted the urgent need for real-time monitoring A joint inquest into four recent deaths was recently held …
Self-prescribing leads to deregistration
A NSW doctor with a codeine dependency has been struck off for prescribing scheduled medicines to himself over 600 times in just two years A doctor who had practised in …
Pharmacy forms found on other side of city
Hospital pharmacy requisition documents for drugs of dependence have been found on the street in Canberra Internal documents from Canberra’s Calvary Public Hospital Bruce have been found on the ground …
No more opioids for chronic pain
Doctors at GP conference call for move away from “ineffective and unsafe” opioids to more active forms of pain treatment As the RACGP conference kicks off this week, a pre-conference …
Pharmacy welcomes real-time monitoring
News that Victoria passed legislation to establish real-time prescription monitoring has been welcomed by pharmacists The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) has welcomed the Victorian Government’s announcement of …
Real-time script monitoring laws pass Parliament
The Victorian government has passed legislation to allow a mandatory prescription monitoring system to roll out by 2018 The Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Real-time Prescription Monitoring) Bill 2017, …