Well there has been a flurry of media releases from PSA, NPS and ASMI as they have all taken advantage of a captive audience at PAC14.
PSA have released 10 important messages in total ranging from comments made by Minister Dutton in relation to better utilisation of pharmacists in the health system; a range of awards and recognition of individual outstanding pharmacists;a call to be a signatory and to have input and direction for clinical services in the 6CPA; and a guide to cultural responsiveness with indigenous peoples.
Quite a diverse coverage in the space of a week but it is good to see PSA stepping up in the leadership stakes.

NPS has a message for everyone to clean out their medicine cabinets and ASMI has some topical input for the advertising of S3 medications and commentary on the OTC sale of OTC NSAID’s, a topic that many pharmacists hold reservations on.

This week we also report on Big Pharma medical evidence fraud, as presented on Channel 7 in the Sunday Night program. It is quite unusual for mainstream media to report on the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers in this fashion, but if they dig deeper they will find a wealth of similar material to feast upon.
This particular instance concerned the company Bayer and the death of a 30 year old father of four children.
One child wanted answers and grew up to become a theatre nurse. Her story is compelling.

Peter Sayers has done a study on Minute Clinic, the US clinical service provider, located in pharmacies but generally staffed with nurses. Interested pharmacists should be able to glean some good insights for their own version of clinical services.
It is invaluable to draw from as wide a perspective as possible in the area of clinical services because they can be presented in a number of ways.
No one organisation has claimed ownership of these services except for the PGA and they can only develop simple activities as the more complex quality services need personal attention and maybe a multiple spread of sites to practice from.
It is good to see some light shining from PSA, the natural drivers of these activities if they step up to the opportunities.

Mark Coleman has a commentary on an article appearing in another publication about “CAM Creep”.

There are a very small number of GP’s who have been disciplined for unprofessional conduct and an even smaller number disciplined for their approach to CAM, the worry being that even more GP’s may go down the CAM track and become unprofessional.
The original article really is quite ridiculous and demeans GP’s in general, assuming that they do not have the intelligence to manage an integrative practice.
I would judge that the people behind this article are the same people who criticise pharmacies for selling CAM’s, supposedly without an evidence base.
There is evidence for most pharmacy stocked CAM’s and there seems to be a resurgence of support in the light that they offer cheaper and less damaging health solutions for a range of conditions.

We also have a short article from Barry Urquhart titled “Unconditional Expenditure” which contains thoughts that might help your market planning.
There is also an article on controlling Ebola surface infection and Harvey Mackay invites you to make a commitment to succeed.

Somewhere in all the news flurry there is the PGA campaign to reinvent pharmacists, their pharmacy business model reinvented and a new conversation with customers/patients.
It is a long overdue conversation and i2P will be reporting on it as it unfolds.