Latest news for Australian Pharmacy
1ST FEBRUARY 2011
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Pfizer changes overshadow MoU price cuts
NICK O’DONOGHUE
New drug price changes are a lesser
issue for pharmacies than adjusting to
Pfizer’s new direct distribution system,
according to Kos Sclavos, president of
the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
The initial two to five per cent cuts,
which came into effect today as part of
the Federal Government’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
Medicines Australia, were also “minor” when compared with the 23 per
cent guaranteed cut due from 1 April
next year, he said.
Mr Sclavos said pharmacists were
focused on adapting to the new delivery system Pfizer introduced yesterday
(31 January), rather than worrying
about the price cuts.
“These are minor ones… it’s just
two to five per cent depending on the
product... and because it’s been known
for some time, pharmacists have been
able to adjust for that.
“The bigger issue is when the 23
per cent guaranteed price cut occurs…
that’s when it will be harder to adjust
from a business point-of-view.
The second round of cuts agreed on
in the MoU guarantee a 23 per cent
total price reduction.
This will see varied price cuts
depending on specific products.
“If there was one benefit of the two
and five per cent cuts, it was that they
were uniform across the board, but the
23 per cent cut, that will be different
for every molecule.
“Manufacturers have already told us
when the 23 per cent cut hits in 2012,
it will be very varied and maybe they
won’t be able to make some medications anymore.
“We’ve been told by generic suppliers that some will cease to make some
medicines and that will have a much
bigger impact than this cut.
“But at this stage, yesterday and
today was a bigger day with Pfizer and
new ordering systems as opposed to
the two and five per cent cut,” he said.
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AUSSIES TO GET PAID TO TAKE CHLAMYDIA TESTS IN ACT PILOT
NICK O’DONOGHUE
A new pharmacy-based project where
young ACT residents are paid to
undergo tests for Chlamydia has been
praised by the Pharmaceutical Society
of Australia (PSA).
Cathy Beckhouse, president of the
PSA’s ACT branch, told Pharmacy
News the pilot screening service,
being run in six pharmacies in the
nation’s capital could, if successful
become a professional service that
pharmacists around the country could
provide.
Under the program, which was
designed to combat rising rates of
the sexually-transmitted infection,
people aged 16 to 30 will be paid $10
if they agree to participate in the trial.
Pharmacies also receive $10 per test
carried out.
“Community pharmacy is doing
more innovative things these days …
this is a great initiative and I really
congratulate the researchers,” Ms
Beckhouse said.
“It’s a great thing for community
pharmacy to be doing and it’s certain-
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ly something that could be expanded
assuming it’s successful,”
Although the pilot scheme is being
funded by the ACT Government, Ms
Beckhouse said the accessibility of
community pharmacies compared
with other health services could pave
the way for a “user pays” screening
service.
Using a simple urine test to check
samples, Associate Professor Rhian
Parker from the Australian Primary
Health Care Research Institute
(APHCRI) said the program would
help raise awareness of the infection,
which untreated can lead to infertility
in women.
The six participating pharmacies
involved in the project are: Devlin’s
Garema Place, City Markets, Priceline and Pyes in central Canberra, and
suburban pharmacies in Hughes and
Charnwood.
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Latest news for Australian Pharmacy
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Nicotine patch strategy a disappointment: Guild
NICK O’DONOGHUE
Pharmacy staff are being left in the
dark over how to promote the availability of nicotine patches now they
are on the Pharmaceutical Benefits
Scheme (PBS).
Marketing material should have
been provided to pharmacy staff to
ensure today’s introduction of nicotine
patches is a success, Kos Sclavos
president of the Pharmacy Guild of
Australia said.
From today, smokers wanting to
kick their habit will be able to access
nicotine patches through the PBS.
Mr Sclavos told Pharmacy News
he was disappointed that pharmacy
staff around the country had not been
briefed on how to promote the treatment to price sensitive smokers.
“Unlike other PBS medicines, this
is a marketing exercise. People will
come into pharmacies and we know
price has been a barrier [to uptake
of nicotine patches in the past], so to
combat that in the mind of the smoker,
pharmacists need to have the language
ready and that hasn’t really been
prepared.
“In the same way that those people
were impacted by the marketing of the
cigarette companies in the first place,
now is the time to use key messages
to make sure people take advantage of
this unique change to the PBS.
“Pharmacists need to be able to say,
‘on your card, a 12 week treatment
will cost you $16.80, whereas you
might be spending [in the same period]
$700 on cigarettes’,” he said.
“I’ve been disappointed that pharmacy staff have not been briefed on
the key messages, given the Guild and
other pharmacy organisations have
been looking for this for years.
Following the announcement of the
Federal Government’s $61 million
anti-smoking advertising campaign,
which was launched on Sunday (30
January), smoking cessation drug
Champix (varenicline) has also been
added to the PBS.
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CANCER TREATMENT LISTED ON PBS
NICK O’DONOGHUE
BRIEFS
AUSSIE’S RUSSIAN SWINE FLU
DEATH
An Australian tourist has died in
Russia after contracting swine flu,
local media reports.
The 61-year old Australian, who
was visiting the country on a tourist
visa to marry his Russian girlfriend,
died in Ufa in the Volga region
earlier in January, the reports said on
Monday.
The man was allegedly contaminated during a flight by his
neighbour who had embarked from
Hong Kong.
GSK IN COURT OVER
PARKINSON’S DRUG
A French man is taking GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to court claiming the
company’s Parkinson’s disease treatment turning him into a gay sex and
gambling addict.
The 51-year-old father of two said
his behaviour changed dramatically
after first taking the drug (Requip)
in 2003.
Didier Jambart said he lost his
family’s savings after developing an
online gambling addiction.
He said he also became a compulsive gay sex addict, exposing
himself on the internet and having
risky sexual encounters which led to
him being raped.
Mr Jambart’s lawyers said his
uncharacteristic behaviour stopped
when he gave up taking the drugs
in 2005.
CANCER SNIFFING DOGS
New Japanese research has added to
mounting evidence that dogs can be
trained to use their powerful sense of
smell to detect cancer.
Researchers found a labrador
could accurately detect colorectal
cancer by sniffing samples of a person’s breath or their excrement.
Study leader Hideto Sonoda told
the British Medical Journal that the
research confirms a specific cancer
scent does exist and that cancerspecific chemical compounds may
be circulating throughout the body.
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Patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) will no longer have
to “watch and wait” as the disease
progresses after Vidaza (Azacitidine)
was added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
The decision to add Vidaza to the
PBS from 1 February was welcomed
by Dr Anna Williamson, general
manager of Policy and Advocacy at the
Leukaemia Foundation of Australia.
“The availability of Azacitidine
through the PBS is good news for
people with MDS.
“The Leukaemia Foundation has
been in dialogue with government to
support the listing of the drug and is
pleased that more than 600 Australians
living with MDS now have affordable
access to treatment,” she said.
Previously the only treatment available to patients, who could not afford
to pay for the treatment, was to have
blood transfusions to relieve symp-
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toms of the disease, which can include
fatigue, mouth ulcers and complications from recurring infections due to
reduced immunity function.
“Azacitidine is the only treatment
likely to extend life for people with
MDS.
“In reality it means people will
spend less time in hospital and more
time enjoying the things many of us
take for granted in life,” Dr Williamson said.
MDS are a group of diseases that
affect the production of normal blood
cells in the bone marrow and progress
to acute myeloid leukaemia in around
one third of patients.
Its incidence is increasing with over
4000 Australian patients living with
the condition and 400 dying from
MDS every year.
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