Editorial
Welcome to the first homepage edition of i2P for 2012.
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Volume 2012 Number 1
Health Politics
Neil Johnston: Friends of Science in Medicine
Peter Sayers: Confessions of a Frustrated Pharmacist
James Ellerson: $75.5 million in 5CPA lying idle. Why is it so?EPublications
Time to Move with Project Stop
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Editing and Researching news and stories about global and local Pharmacy Issues | |
Pseudoephedrine continues to attract more than its fair share of headlines and a solution to the problem is long overdue. The following news item appears to be supportive to PGA efforts to get Project Stop up and running on a national basis, as well as expanding the list covered by the program to extend to other potential drugs that can be abused. SOURCE: GoldCoast.com.au
This exercise should validly attract a fee for service and would be a suitable program to centre other clinical pharmacy activities around.
It's time for government to get its collective head around the problem and to simply act.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/07/14/97565_gold-coast-top-story.html
July 14th, 2009
GOLD Coast chemists are refusing to stock cold and flu tablets -- an ingredient in illicit drugs such as ice -- following at least 40 robberies in 12 months.
Thirteen robberies occurred since May 1 and the industry says the damage bill runs to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The most recent robbery was at Ashmore yesterday.
Amcal Chemist Ashmore Plaza partner Chris Constantinou said it was no longer worth the risk of having pseudoephedrine products on his shelves after four robberies in six weeks.
Mr Constantinou said the health of customers would be compromised by his decision, but he had no alternative.
The pharmacy, in Cotlew Street, was ram-raided early yesterday by two masked robbers who fled with a quantity of pharmaceutical products, some of which did not contain pseudoephedrine.
The thieves used a stolen car to smash their way in after earlier attempts to break-in through glass security doors were unsuccessful.
Mr Constantinou said female staff were in tears when they arrived to clean up the mess yesterday morning.
Mr Constantinou said he had upgraded security, installing a new alarm system and fitting security grills on the doors but the thieves always managed to find a way in.
"Because they're morons, they've taken anything in the general area and taken things that aren't pseudoephedrine. They've been a bit specific but they're just grabbing stuff," he said.
Mr Constantinou said upgraded security would not stop the robbers.
"It's got to the point now where the choices in stopping them are limited," he said.
"The next thing is how far will they go. Will they walk into the store and put a gun to my head? Is it going to turn into an armed hold-up?
"My cousin in Melbourne has a chemist shop and he got done with a baseball bat to the head."
Mr Constantinou said the pharmaceutical manufacturers had to look at new ways to make their products.
"I think we might have to go back to the manufacturer of the drug and see if they can manufacture something into the tablet so we can use it but if that tablet is misused as a chemical drug, it causes a reaction and becomes unstable and can't be used," he said.
"They've got to make the pseudoephedrine less accessible, somehow."
Police district Superintendent Jim Keogh said about three in five break-ins at pharmacies resulted in the thieves escaping with no pseudoephedrine at all.
Queensland branch president of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Tim Logan, said the Gold Coast and its surrounds were going through a bad patch of break-ins.
Mr Logan said it was a problem which cost the industry up to $100,000 every year.
"The cost to the community can be even more because then these illicit drugs are out there and the police are chasing them," he said.
He said some chemists were now refusing to stock pseudoephedrine-based cold and flu tablets, which was not fair to the community.
"Pseudoephedrine is the safest and most effective drug to treat colds and runny noses. They don't sound serious, but can cause a loss of productivity," said Mr Logan said.
"If there was something else as good we would have dumped pseudoephedrine a long time ago."
He said pharmacists needed to beef up security and stock only small amounts to discourage break-ins.
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