Editorial

From the desk of the editor

Welcome to the May 2012 homepage edition of i2P-Information to Pharmacists. Rollo Manning has been having some time out having staples removed from the site of his open heart surgery.He is now at home recuperating in Darwin, having arrived home last Friday, beating a cold and hasty retreat from Canberra.We all wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully, he will be fit enough to contribute by next month.
This month, Pharmedia discusses the toll that is taken when someone complains about you to an authority without good cause. Well, the good news is that you can now take action to protect yourself if such a complaint is made, and that may even include action for defamation. Read about a recent case involving two doctors, with Mark Coleman drawing on personal experience to illustrate.

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EDITORIAL for February 2012

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	From the desk of the editor articles by this author...
Introducing current ideas, perspectives and issues, to the profession of pharmacy

Welcome to the first homepage edition of i2P for 2012.
In many ways it has been a slow start to the New Year because of having to deal with the “leftovers” from 2011.
One of those items for i2P was that a third-party provider to the site did not advise of a code change to the security section in our subscribe panel, creating a range of frustrated subscribers not able to get on board.
We apologise to all those potential subscribers who were unable to register with us in the second half of 2011, but if you try once more you should have no problem.

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i2P welcomes a new writer to the group, Gerald Quigley.
Gerald is an advocate for complementary medicine and promotes his services on Melbourne radio and  through his own website. He is often an invited speaker to pharmacy industry conferences and he also contributes articles to a range of health magazines. He also consults to the pharmaceutical industry.
Gerald has broken out of the mould in terms of needing to practice within the four walls of a community pharmacy to earn an income, and we look forward to his positive commentary on the opportunities in pharmacy to provide professional services.

We also welcome back James Ellerson, who has found a $ multi-million hole in pharmacy IT funding. Money set aside but unable to be taken up. And it seems that the PGA may have shot itself in the foot through regulations it helped to draft.
Conflict of interest is at the root of this problem and all of health is suffering as a result.

Linda Bryant is ready to take on a prescribing role in New Zealand but has found that there are no funds available for this important pharmacist role.
Although New Zealand appears to be ahead of Australia in developing prescribing services, they suffer similar problems to Australia because pharmacy owners do not recognise their skills base, or the value of individual pharmacists.
The profession is being held back as a result.

A new force seems to be emerging in health and it is being coordinated by Loretta Marron, a long-time skeptic and writer for i2P. Loretta has mobilised a range of academics from various universities who are tackling the perceived issue of recognition of health disciplines that are not accepted by orthodox medicine e.g chiropractors and naturopaths.
Australian consumers (some 70% now) have purchased these services on a regular basis. They will be looking for a range of choices in health coupled with value for money.
Are they so "dumbed down" that they do not recognise the value for maney services provided in a timely fashionby their own GP's?
Why do they defect?
Perhaps the following extract from mainstream media tells the story:

"Rise in patients avoiding GPs
The Australian 31/01/12
Every state and territory has recorded an increase in the number of Australians who have deferred a GP visit on financial grounds"

The alternate health practitioners point out that they would not exist at all. if orthodox medicine dealt compassionately with people and provided genuine help.
Orthodox medicine claims that many of these alternative disciplines are not based on valid evidence and are “quacks”.
Universities stand accused of giving alternate practitioners a validation through education and the conferring of degrees.
Alternate practitioners state that they would not exist but for the “rejects” from orthodox medicine and accuse orthodoxy of making a grab for valuable financial resources they have earned, including government subsidies for their education and health rebates for patients through Medicare and medical funds.
i2P is committed to a science-based approach to health but it has found (through its own research) that much of the drug data that has been built into an evidence database, has been tainted through manipulation by Big Pharma drug sponsors.
University academics have been involved here as well as prestigious journals where “persuasion” has promoted positive opinions by otherwise well-respected professionals regarded as experts in their field.
It’s proving to be a fascinating debate that will gather intensity as Loretta, the CEO of “Friends of Science in Medicine (FSM)” mobilises what appears to be a very powerful lobby group, to confront universities and government regulatory bodies.
It’s a debate that the profession of pharmacy needs to be involved in, because as FSM begins to achieve objectives, changes will occur in all the health professions.
To make that change positive means that all pharmacists need to understand what the change is about and how to interact positively with that change,

i2P will endeavour to present both sides to this debate and has asked Peter Sayers to manage this debate fairly and without becoming tangled in a "Can of Worms".

All our other regular writers have appeared after the holiday break, fully refreshed:

Rollo Manning, Neil Retallick, Loretta Marron, Barry Urquhart, Kay Dunkley, Dr Andrew Byrne, Dr David More and Mark Coleman with his Pharmedia commentary – all are back with a range of perspectives that challenge you to absorb, adapt and shape your own activities.

The New Year is developing as a range of difficulties for pharmacists to find creative solutions for.
Pharmacy is a resilient profession but has a need to heal its internal divisions that are holding it back.

Let’s see how it unfolds over 2012.

Neil Johnston (editor) February 2012.

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