Since the 1940s, methamphetamine has been one of the most widely used and abused drugs worldwide due to its addictive qualities. Methamphetamine was first synthesised during the late 19th Century in Japan, where researchers were looking to find ‘wonder...

Pharmacists play an important role in advising parents and carers of breast-fed infants about their safe use of medicines. The benefits of breastfeeding are widely recognised, and breastfeeding should be promoted whenever possible. The risks and benefits of using...

Identifying and managing pain in children is a vital role for pharmacists. Commonly encountered paediatric pain can be categorised as pain associated with infection (e.g. otitis media, pharyngitis and viral infections of the mouth), normative pains (e.g. colic, growing...

A recent study of coronial inquest findings revealed medicines relating to mental health conditions (antidepressants, antipsychotics) were most commonly implicated in non-opioid and non-benzodiazepine accidental drug-related deaths, with increasing prevalence over the 5-year study period.1 Although pharmacists were not implicated...

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has made an interim decision to upschedule modified release (MR) paracetamol tablets from 1 October 2019 due to safety concerns. The medicine will change from Schedule 2 (Pharmacy Medicine) to Schedule 3 (Pharmacist Only) in...

In the third of a six-part series, we expand on the PSA Choosing Wisely recommendations, taking a closer look at the use of sedatives. Insomnia, agitation and delirium in older adults can cause significant distress to both the older...

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) recently made changes to the listings for proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in an effort to address overprescribing. The changes, which came into effect on 1 May 2019, affect prescribing of esomeprazole, lansoprazole, omeprazole, pantoprazole and...

In the fourth of a six-part series, we expand on the PSA Choosing Wisely recommendations, taking a closer look at the dispensing of repeat antibiotic prescriptions. There is considerable evidence that clinical outcomes between short and long courses of antibiotics...

Treating bacterial infections without antibiotics might sound like a problem from another time, but it is a challenge that healthcare professionals in remote areas are facing. Antibiotic shortages are transforming ‘school sores’ (impetigo), a treatable bacterial skin infection common amongst...

The evidence is in: positive health outcomes can hinge on patients’ ability to understand health information – and on pharmacists’ ability to impart it. Health literacy has important implications for understanding health information,1,2 guiding health behaviours3 and producing health outcomes.4...