GP consultation encouraged in prescribing opioids for crash victims

New findings released reveal opioid use has tripled from 11 percent pre-injury to 33 per cent during the 18 months post-injury, according to a study that examined PBS medication use by 700 people injured on Victorian roads between 2010 and 2012. The Monash University Injury Research Institute of Melbourne study showed Oxycodone was the most…

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Guild tackles PBS price battle head-on

With the country in the midst of (or trying to avoid) election fever, it feels as though Australians are being asked to throw their support behind one party or another. But despite the promises being made by the country’s political parties, big and small, there’s another battle for consumer support taking place in Australian pharmacies.…

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Will health get a guernsey in the 2013 election?

Health will likely be buried amid the hot button 2013 federal election topics of asylum seekers, carbon tax and the economy, but that has not stopped our peak health and medical bodies stating their arguments for how health should be managed under any incoming government. Issues ranging from PBS drug listings to chronic disease care,…

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Originator manufacturers bracing for further PBS price cuts

The ongoing price disclosure system brokered by Medicines Australia and the Government will see another 13 medicines attract significant price cuts ranging from 11 to 77 per cent from August 1 this year. The medication price cuts are in addition to the broadbrush $1.9 billion in PBS savings that constitute the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)…

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PBS administration under public inquiry

The Government’s administration of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is in the spotlight this month with a public inquiry into the deferral of medicines and possible repercussions for the pharmaceutical sector. Stakeholders have until next Friday, July 15, to submit their applications to The Finance and Public Administration References Committee for the public hearing, to…

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