Medica - Australian Healthcare News and Information

A study of more than six thousand Australian students supports comprehensive labeling for beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages. 17 December 2007

A nasal spray, designed to stop children wetting the bed, is under review by Australian authorities after the United States FDA linked it with seizures and death. 17 December 2007

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has advised, that Doctors should not prescribe and Pharmacists should not dispense more than a single pack of Stilnox (zolpidem) at one time. The advice comes as the medicines regulator announces extra warnings to be stamped on the Product Information and Consumer Medicine Information documents after hundreds of adverse reactions to the medication have been reported. These including driving, having sex, fighting and binge eating from the fridge while apparently asleep.12 December 2007

Incoming Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd confirmed Nicola Roxon as the new Minister for Health and Ageing. Mr Rudd says that this is a most significant area of work. Ms Roxon, the daughter of two pharmacists, is one of four women named in the Cabinet. 6 December 2007

United States and German researchers have developed a new measure for cardiovascular risk called the Omega-3-Index which will identify those most likely to suffer a heart attack. 6 December 2007

Drug and alcohol organizations say that pregnant women must be warned of the risk of causing irreversible brain damage to their unborn children by drinking. 12 December 2007

Australian research shows that babies born to women on antidepressants are smaller and more likely to suffer tremor and irritability, but the symptoms are not long-lasting. 12 December 2007

A study in the United States suggests that many steroid users are in their twenties and thirties, are well-educated and don't play sport. 5 December 2007

Payments and loadings for the Section 100 Support Allowance to pharmacists have been increased by three hundred per cent in this financial quarter. 5 December 2007

The first PBS Online payment is being made to participating pharmacists on December 4th this year, rather than in January 2008. 5 November 2007

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has congratulated incoming Prime Minister Kevin Rudd saying it looks forward to developing a relationship with the new Government. 26 November 2007

The U-S Food and Drug Administration has recommended new warnings about the psychiatric side effects seen in some patients taking Roche's Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza. 5 December 2007

New Australian research has shown the levels of dust mites in children's beds are three times higher in autumn than in summer. 5 December 2007