Clinical trials are used to establish that medicines work. But these don’t take into account the genetic differences between us that can mean very different outcomes for different patients.
If Australia follows international trends and allows supermarkets to open pharmacies, what are the effects on neighbouring pharmacies? And when does running a business mean health care suffers?
Only pharmacists can own a pharmacy and you can’t set one up within 1.5km of an existing one. But calls to loosen these rules could give health companies a green light to set up more chemist chains.
Whether women should need a prescription to get the pill has long been controversial. But making it available over the counter would compromise the provision of comprehensive women’s health care.
New modelling shows skipping the need for a doctors’ prescription and going straight to a pharmacist for the pill could save the health system A$96 million a year and improve women’s health outcomes.
A greater number of medicines may soon be available without a prescription. Under the right circumstances, this would mean you could bypass the doctor and access the treatments you need more quickly.
Evangeline Rose, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Kevin Omland, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Thomas Mathew, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
A new statistical test lets researchers search for similarities between groups. Could this help keep new important findings out of the file drawer?
Canada is the only nation with a broad public health system lacking universal coverage for pharmaceuticals. Despite fears that pharmacare would be too costly, it could end up saving Canadians money.
A push towards prescribing generic medications rather than their branded equivalents, as flagged in the budget, may have benefits beyond simple cost savings.