New Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) research has revealed the number of Australian deaths involving opioids has more than doubled in the past decade, while more than 3 million Australians have had prescription opioids dispensed in 2016-17...

On 1 January 2019, new laws will enforce the mandatory reporting scheme for medicine shortages – a welcome change. It’s a very difficult conversation to have with a patient when you have to explain to them that the only...

The implementation of a Minor Ailments Scheme (MAS) has major support in Australian pharmacy. Here’s why it’s needed – and how it’s going to work. Minor Ailments Schemes (MAS) involve pharmacists treating and referring patients who present with common...

The recent release of the updated 2019 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods from the World-Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) raises the question about the relationship between doping in sport and pharmacists: what role do pharmacists play in ensuring elite athletes...

Male pharmacy graduates earn an average $10,000 more than their female counterparts after three years on the job, a new report has shown. Although female graduates start their careers earning ever-so-slightly more than men ($200 a year more), after three...

Simple compounding has long been a part of pharmacists’ scope of practice, but new guidelines have opened up the potential for complex compounding. For some patients, compounding is their only medication option. At Soul Pattinson Chemist in Geelong, pharmacist and owner...

Experts are urging allergic rhinitis (hay fever) sufferers to seek the help of pharmacists, following a recent poll showing hay fever to be the most common allergic disorder in Australia; causing more than a simple case of the sniffles,...

Research from the University of New South Wales National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) has shown a decline in illicit low-dose codeine use since the February rescheduling. The report shows 14% of the 910 metropolitan-based participants in the national...

Mortality rates are four times higher for Indigenous patients with diabetes than non-Indigenous Australians, a report has found. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report Diabetes Indicators for the Australian National Diabetes Strategy 2016-2020 has also shown that...

The Department of Social Services (DSS) has released further information to support pharmacists in their use of the Free Interpreting Service available to community pharmacies or pharmacists. The service expansion allows pharmacists and other pharmacy staff to communicate with patients...