fentanyl
Pharmacists among those fired, sued in fentanyl deaths case
A hospital has seen 23 staff fired, a CEO step down and a doctor charged with murder following excessive and potentially fatal doses of fentanyl administered to at least 35 …
Doc diverted leftover fentanyl to take the ‘edge off’ anxiety
A doctor who self-injected fentanyl in a hospital bathroom has been reprimanded and fined $5,000 The doctor was facing three allegations: that he misappropriated fentanyl from his employer by diverting …
Prevalent dark web drug a ‘biohazard’
Researchers say a new report “lifts the lid” on a significant new synthetic opioid market on the dark net A new study from the Australian National University has found that …
Pharmacy expert warning over hospital opioid use
How did a patient admitted to a South Australian public hospital for pain in his arm die from fentanyl and oxycodone toxicity? On 23 March 2015 Stephen Robert Atkins, 53, …
How did the codeine upschedule change use?
Latest data reveals a decline in use of low-dose codeine in 2018, but is there more to the story? UNSW’s National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) has released the …
Prescribing slow-release opioids can be fatal, college warns
Health professionals have been warned about the risks of prescribing commonly used opioids such as fentanyl patches The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) has written to 34 …
Death caused by undetected e-prescribing error
A man’s death from opioid toxicity occurred due to “persistent failure of critical thinking” by those involved in his care, according to findings handed down by the NSW State Coroner …
Reprimand over S8 dispensing
A NSW pharmacist has been found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct related to 10 complaints about his dispensing of addictive drugs The pharmacist was first investigated by the Pharmaceutical Services …
Pill testing in the community?
The debate about pill testing needs to expand beyond just music festivals, says the ACT’s Greens leader – and community pharmacy could be one place to run such programs And …
Oxycodone use higher in the bush
More Australians are using oxycodone and fentanyl than heroin, new data from wastewater analysis suggests But there has been a gradual reduction in pharmaceutical opioid use in some sites, Australia’s …
‘We don’t want those sorts of people in our pharmacy.’
Pharmacists need to get off their “high horses” about pharmacotherapy, according to a pharmacist profiled by the ABC This week ABC News ran a feature on the “opioid addiction crisis” …
Dispensing fees a barrier to addiction treatment
Australia is on track to emulate the US-style drug overdose crisis, a new report shows The Penington Institute’s Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2017 has shown that diverted fentanyl is killing …