Australian Medical Association

The AMA wrote to the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia on 15 November 2011 opposing the continued dispensing proposal under the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement. Continued dispensing will represent a significant change in the professional role of pharmacists and their role within the health care team. The draft guidelines circulated by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia heighten the AMA's concerns that continued dispensing will undermine the collaboration between pharmacists and medical practitioners.

MJA release - Almost one in every 10 men under 30 years of age has regularly used or misused stimulant drugs like speed, ecstasy, cocaine or ice, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

The AMA opposes Government decisions to defer listing of medicines on the PBS that have been recommended by the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC). The Government is leaving itself open to accusations of political interference by ignoring the PBAC assessment and pricing process which is fair, equitable, evidence-based and transparent.

MJA release - Health professionals should ensure they are prescribing correct doses of colchicine, a treatment for acute gout, after three elderly patients were hospitalised within a fortnight, doctors at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney say in a letter published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

All three patients presented with vomiting and diarrhoea, and all had been taking higher than recommended doses of colchicine, wrote the authors, from the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at St Vincent’s. Colchicine is used for patients who cannot take anti-inflammatory drugs, the usual treatment for gout.

The AMA supports the development of an electronic system to record and monitor controlled drugs that can be used to help address abuse and misuse of schedule 8 drugs. A project to develop an electronic system is being funded as one of several programs under the Fifth Pharmacy Agreement. The AMA has made a submission to the Department of Health and Ageing in response to a consultation paper released as part of the development phase of the project. The submission notes that any system designed for medical practitioners must be simple, easy to operate and avoid duplication of effort.

The AMA made a submission to the Department of Health and Ageing on 13 April 2011 responding to a proposal that pharmacists could continue prescription medicines to a patient under defined circumstances. The AMA is strongly opposed to pharmacists dispensing prescription medication without a valid prescription and without reference to the patient’s treating medical practitioner. Only medical practitioners are adequately trained to make assessments about a patient’s clinical condition, the need to begin treatment with a prescription medication, and consequently to continue, adjust or cease that treatment.

The AMA supports the introduction of a system to allow medication charts in residential aged care facilities to be used as a prescription for PBS purposes. This has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of providing medical care to aged care residents and increase medication safety. A project to develop this system is being funded as one of several programs under the Fifth Pharmacy Agreement. The AMA has made a submission to the Department of Health and Ageing in response to a consultation paper released as part of the initial stages of the project. The submission attaches a list of key principles the AMA considers should form the basis of implementing the chart-based prescribing system.

MJA release - Better support for patients with drug and alcohol dependency could help reduce complications from hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection a new study published in the Medical Journal of Australia has found.

The AMA advises Australians to increase their enjoyment of Christmas and the holiday season this year by making informed choices about their health and avoiding risky behaviour.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that summer is great for families, friends, festivities, food, fun and outdoor recreation, but it is also a time when people can take unnecessary risks with their health.

The AMA has made a submission to the Podiatry Board of Australia's consultation process on proposed revisions to their prescribing standards for podiatrists.  This submission, which is consistent with previous AMA submissions on this issue to the Podiatry Board, highlights the deficiencies in the Guidelines with respect to course content and accreditation, shared care arrangements and expansion of the national drugs list.