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From the Editor’s Desk 31 August 2014
My reading list is definitely expanding each week in an attempt to keep up with a wide range of issues affecting pharmacy at a local, national and international level. As far as pharmacy is concerned, the issues are virtually identical for each country- they just have slightly different systems and solutions for dealing with the…
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MMR Vaccine Found to Cause Autism in African-American Children
Recent revelations concerning clinical trials involving MMR vaccine and the non-reporting of the incidence incurred in an African-American sub group involved with the trial. The revelation came in the release of a statement by William Thomson admitting that certain important information had been omitted from an article published in the journal Pediatrics back in 2004.…
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Warren Bennis Led The Way
Warren Bennis was synonymous with leadership. Unfortunately, we lost Warren earlier this month but his leadership lessons and principles will live on for years. He wrote more than 30 books on leadership, including his landmark work, “On Becoming a Leader.” He advised U.S. Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Ford and Reagan. I got to know him during…
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The Next Battlefield – Patient Diagnostics
Medical apps have exploded into health-related industries in very recent times. So much so, that they have proliferated to the extent they confuse the markets they seek to be part of. Medical apps have also been developed by a range of people, including doctors and pharmacists (one app is publicised in this edition – “Our…
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Our Pills Talk – an Aussie Pharmacist Initiative
Editor’s Note: I recently had contact with an enterprising pharmacist by the name of Steve Cohen. Steve had an idea for a mobile phone app that would bring dispensed medicine directions to life by utilising QR codes to enable a patient to “hear” their medication instructions in a language of their choice. This initiative forms…
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Ice Buckets Aren’t The Cure For Motor Neurone Disease
Give a person an opportunity for a photo and it’s on for young and old! Celebrities, industry and professional leaders, KOLs , politicians current and has-been’s……the list is endless. Let’s stop pretending that pouring ice on ourselves means anything until we can acknowledge the research that some of the causes and cures for motor neurone…
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Pharmacy Practice Research – a New Disruptive Approach
Pharmacy Practice research is something we are aware is happening, but the breadth and depth of research is not clearly visible. At a time when pharmacy needs some sort of direction with evidence to back it up, information is very sparse. There is an awareness that a range of grants is made available to pharmacy…
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Medical Marijuana – Finally the Road Blocks are Being Removed
Finally, commonsense is prevailing and there is now sufficient political will in Victoria to introduce medical marijuana as a treatment for a range of illnesses. This will be the driver for a national introduction. The Victorian health minister, David Davis, has announced he will amend the law to allow clinical trials of medical cannabis, days…
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SHPA and NAPSA Cement Their Partnership
The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) and the National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association (NAPSA) have committed to a stronger working relationship between the two organisations. By partnering with NAPSA, SHPA can engage with pharmacy students at the early stages of their career and support them on their career journey by highlighting the many…
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ARE YOUR MEDICINES HELPING OR HINDERING? BE MEDICINEWISE WEEK ANNOUNCED FOR 2014
NPS MedicineWise today announced that Be Medicinewise Week 2014 will be held from 13-19 October. Be Medicinewise Week is an annual national awareness week that promotes safer and better use of medicines to all Australians. This year is the fourth anniversary of Be MedicineWise Week. This year’s overarching theme is medication safety: ‘Are your medicines…