A Grattan Institute report released today, Cutting a better drug deal, calls for a major shake-up of pharmacies and pharmaceutical pricing.
Patients with life-threatening diseases can legally order drugs available overseas and have them delivered to their local pharmacy. But what are the risks?
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Judith Singleton, Queensland University of Technology; Esther Lau, Queensland University of Technology e Lisa Nissen, Queensland University of Technology
The Social Medwork is a website that promises patients legal access to medicines from overseas. How does it work? What are the risks? And why are patients turning to it to access the drugs they need?
Focusing on price instead of drug information could put patients at risk.
Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Some people are incapable of swallowing tablets because of physical or psychological reasons. What should they do when the doctor prescribes a drug that comes in tablet form?
Codeine-containing painkillers may soon no longer be available over the counter in Australian pharmacies.
Philippa Willitts/Flickr
Australia’s drug regulator is looking into reclassifying codeine-based drugs as prescription-only. This is a good idea because the easy availability of these pinkillers is causing substantial harm.
Why are hospitals running out of critical drugs?
IV drip via Bhakpong/Shutterstock
Hospitals and pharmacies around the country are facing severe shortages of essential drugs. These shortages can limit access to critical medications and compromise patient safety, resulting in serious…
As a nation we smoke too much, drink too much alcohol and don’t do enough exercise. The reasons why we continue to do this despite the health risks is complex, but what is clear is that people in deprived…
Do free prescriptions lead to waste?
David Smart/Shutterstock
The call to abolish the prescription charge in England by the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin is the centre of great debate. Unsurprisingly so. The cost of making and buying pharmaceutical drugs is an emotive…
Drug companies invent hundreds of new molecules that they hope to turn into saleable medicines.
Keith Ramsey
Gone are the good old days when medicines had simple, easy to pronounce names such as aspirin, paracetamol and morphine. Nowadays pharmaceutical companies almost seem to revel in giving drugs names that…
The pseudoephedrine found in cold-and-flu tablets is known to be an ‘illicit drug precursor’.
Pete/Flickr
The process of buying over-the-counter cold-and-flu medicines, and the types of products available, has changed in recent years. Some pharmacies no longer stock pseudoephedrine-based products, and in others…
There’s a conflict between the need for pharmacists to maintain a profitable business and their ethical obligations to the community.
Andrew Dubber
If you look at the shelves of most Australian community pharmacies or browse the pages of local internet pharmacies, you’ll see numerous examples of products making claims that can’t be supported by scientific…
Pharmacists could have an empathetic conversation with women rather than having them fill in an intrusive questionnaire.
Tim Parkinson
The emergency contraceptive pill (morning-after pill) contains a hormone called levonorgestrel and can be bought without a prescription. It’s used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex, but many women…
Counterfeit drugs are an unintended consequence of globalisation.
Melanie Tata
Antibiotics that are laced with rat faeces and floor polish? Cough syrup that contains more than a dash of antifreeze? Antipsychotics with no pharmacologically active ingredients? Medications for heart…
There’s no requirement for pharmacies receiving taxpayers’ money to do anything more than dispense medicines.
Ian Broyles
The retail pharmacy industry in Australia has successfully acquired a monopoly on supplying medicines paid for by the government or consumers. The industry describes this set-up as being the “best subsidized…