Pharmacist News and Research

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There are many tasks that a pharmacist is responsible for each day. Pharmacists are some of the most accessible members of the healthcare team, as individuals can seek their advice quickly and easily, even without an appointment.

Sun protection: an interview with Jane Hanrahan

UV radiation is a form of energy being transmitted. Sunlight is main source of UV radiation, although manmade sources also exist, such as the lamps used in sunbeds. At the earth’s surface sunlight consists of approximately 2 percent UV light, 47 percent visible light and 51 percent IR light.

11 Oct 2012

Wolters Kluwer launches CEConnection solution for allied health professionals

Wolters Kluwer Health introduced today CEConnection for employer-provided continuing education (CE) content from Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) supporting nursing and new for allied health professionals.

11 Oct 2012

FCP reports launch of comprehensive pharmacy services company, AlixaRx

Fillmore Capital Partners, a private investment company, today announced the formal launch of AlixaRx, a company that has been in development over the past four years. AlixaRx will provide comprehensive pharmacy services to post-acute and numerous other healthcare settings.

8 Oct 2012

FDA launches campaign to raise public awareness on prevalence of fraudulent Internet pharmacies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today launched a national campaign to raise public awareness about the prevalence of fraudulent Internet pharmacies, which can be dangerous to patient health, and to help consumers make safe purchases.

29 Sep 2012

Longer looks: A 'renegade' Bill Frist?; The pharmacist's expanding role

Meet former Sen. Bill Frist, a renegade "Obamacare"-loving Republican who is in the mood for some real bipartisanship. Yes, the same Frist who as Senate majority leader led an army into the culture wars over Terri Schiavo and whose efforts in 2004 to unseat his then-rival, Minority Leader Tom Daschle, led to a nasty - and personal - Washington battle royal. Now, Frist is pushing for a national conversation on end-of-life care and dismissing "caricatured" talk of death panels.

21 Sep 2012

Researchers investigate African plants effective in treating snakebite

A PhD student at the University of Copenhagen has drawn on nature's own pharmacy to help improve the treatment of snakebites in Africa.

17 Sep 2012

Antibiotics: facts and fictions: an interview with Dr Philippa Binns, clinical adviser at NPS MedicineWise

Antibiotics are medicines used to treat infections or diseases caused by bacteria, such as some respiratory tract infections (including pneumonia and whooping cough), urinary tract infections, skin infections and infected wounds.

6 Sep 2012

Real-time prescription system reduces inappropriate prescribing of medications

A centralized prescription network providing real-time information to pharmacists in British Columbia, Canada, resulted in dramatic reductions in inappropriate prescriptions for opioid analgesics and benzodiazepines, widely used and potentially addictive drugs. The findings are reported in a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

5 Sep 2012

Longer looks: Too many pills for dad; Genetic secrets; A supermarket's dietitian

Job burnout can strike workers in nearly any field, but a new study finds that doctors are at special risk. Nearly 1 in 2 U.S. physicians report at least one symptom of burnout, with doctors at the front line of care particularly vulnerable, the study found -- a significantly higher rate than among the general working population.

1 Sep 2012

Antibiotics: do they affect contraceptives?

NPS MedicineWise has released information for consumers about taking antibiotics when also using hormonal contraceptives, explaining that there are only two antibiotics that affect how hormonal contraceptives work.

23 Aug 2012

New PrescribeWellness initiative aims to increase flu vaccination rates in the U.S.

PrescribeWellness today launched its "A Million More" Flu Shot Initiative with the goal of increasing the influenza vaccination rate by one million more Americans.

22 Aug 2012

Be ‘medicinewise’ with cough and cold medicines in young children

NPS MedicineWise is urging parents and health professionals to heed the advice from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) this week restricting the use of cough and cold medicines to treat young children amidst concerns they have limited efficacy and may even be harmful.

16 Aug 2012

Medicine brand choices: an interview with Dr Lynn Weekes

In Australia, people will only be offered a choice when the brands are bioequivalent, meaning they contain the same active ingredient (i.e. the chemical in the medicine that makes it work) and have been proven to work the same in the body.

15 Aug 2012

RXMap helps increase medication adherence for older Americans

In a recent poll of Americans 65 years old and older, researches found that 51% take at least five different prescription drugs regularly. Fifty seven percent of those polled admit that they forget to take their medications.

8 Aug 2012

Post-discharge stroke coaching can help patients with their medications or recovery

When a stroke patient is discharged from the hospital, they often must cope with a new disability or lack of function, so changes in their medications or a new dosing prescription can be particularly confusing. This can lead the patient to overmedicate, take the wrong medication or skip medications entirely and can result in being readmitted to the hospital.

7 Aug 2012

Medicines with the same active ingredient and size of dose will work the same in the body

In the wake of reports that a number of medicines will increase in price this week, NPS MedicineWise is reminding Australians that while the cost of a medicine may differ from brand to brand, if the active ingredient and size of the dose are the same then the medicine will work the same in their body.

6 Aug 2012

Medication reconciliation in hospitals: an interview with Dr. Leonard Feldman

Adverse drug effects are harms caused by the use of a medication. There are many different types of ADEs, including medication errors.

6 Aug 2012

Poorly sighted need help with meds

GPs should check that elderly patients can see well enough to read prescriptions and tell different medications apart, warn UK researchers. They point out that many older patients with visual impairment need help to manage their medications.

3 Aug 2012

Training nurse-pharmacist teams to track discrepancies between patients medications at home and in hospital may reduce conflicts

A study of more than 500 patients admitted to, and discharged from, a big-city medical center suggests that nurse-pharmacist teams trained to track down discrepancies between lists of drugs patients are taking at home and those they are scheduled to take in the hospital might substantially reduce such potentially harmful conflicts.

1 Aug 2012

Strategies to reduce readmission are lacking in US hospitals

A review of US hospitals indicates a lack of implementation of important practices to reduce readmission rates among patients with heart failure and acute myocardial infarction, report researchers.

30 Jul 2012