Tuesday 07 August 2012

Pharmacy Daily Tuesday 7th August 2012 T 1300 799 220 W www.pharmacydaily.com.au page 1

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Australians get instant care AUSTRALIAN patients can nowfind and book healthcareappointments instantly online atany hour of the day or night, via1stavailable.com.au, the healthcareequivalent of the travel bookingwebsite Wotif.com. 1st available allows consumers totrack down available appointments,including last minute cancellationswith registered dentists, GPs,physiotherapists, chiropractors andother allied health services, attimes and locations that best suitthem. The homespun website is thebrainchild of Sydney-based dentistDr Rick Luu, who created 1stavailable to “bring equity andaccess to healthcare services in away that benefits both consumersand providers”. “The healthcare industry hastraditionally been slow to integratenon-medical technology into itsservices, which have simplifiedother industries such asaccommodation and retail,” saidLuu. “Booking appointments withhealthcare providers is stillfrustrating and time-consuming forboth patients and practitioners. “Ultimately our goal is to makehealthcare more accessible andconvenient to all Australians andthrough 1st available, we aremaking giant steps forward in doingthis,” Luu added. The service is free to use forpatients and is accessible via anyinternet connected medium,including mobile phones. In terms of practitioners, Luu said

1st available provides them with achannel to reach and secureprospective patients. “The system improves practiceefficiency and profitability byfreeing up front desk staff,improving customer service andhelping to fill open and frustratinglast minute cancellations,” Luu said. “Essentially, 1st Availablealleviates and creates capacity in anoverextended healthcare system. “Despite being only new tomarket, 1st available is on-boardingnew practitioners on a daily basis,”he added.

Lou Gehrig’s testing A NEW study published in theJournal of Clinical Investigation hasidentified a biomarker in the bloodthat signals the earliest stages ofamyotrophic lateral sclerosis (alsoknown as Lou Gehrig’s Disease). The study, undertaken byresearchers at Harvard MedicalSchool, Tufts Medical School,Brigham and Women's Hospital andMassachusetts General Hospital,found that that a type of whiteblood cell, called a monocyte,developed a specific chemical"signature" in the very earlieststages of the disease, before thesymptoms developed. That signature triggered those cellsto move to the spinal cord, wherethey increased inflammation, animportant component of thedisease’s process. A similar signature was seen inmonocytes of amyotrophic lateralsclerosis patients. Scientists targeted the signatureon monocytes using antibodies,which typically identify andneutralise foreign objects. This process slowed diseaseprogression, suggesting that it maybe a promising lead for developingtherapies. Currently the only way to trackthe disease progression is throughclinical measurements, such as theALS Functional Rating Scale andmeasures of muscle strength, whichfluctuate over the short term. “This new biomarker provides uswith a tool to better understandthe beginning stages of ALS andmay allow us to track the diseasewith a simple blood test," saidLucie Bruijn of The ALS Association.

Zaltrap FDA approved THE US Food and DrugAdministration has approvedZaltrap (ziv-aflibercept) Injection forIntravenous Infusion, incombination with 5-fluorouracil,leucovorin, irinotecan (FOLFIRI), forpatients with metastatic colorectalcancer (mCRC) that is resistant to orhas progressed following anoxaliplatin-containing regimen. The drug was approved followinga Priority Review by the FDA. “Colorectal cancer is one of thedeadliest cancers and is responsiblefor more than half a million deathsglobally each year,” said DebasishRoychowdhury, Senior VP andHead, Sanofi Oncology. “Sanofi looks forward to makingZaltrap available as soon as possibleto patients with metastaticcolorectal cancer previously treatedwith an oxaliplatin-containingregimen,” he added. The approval is based on datafrom the pivotal Phase III VELOURtrial which involved 1,226 patientswith mCRC who previously hadbeen treated with anoxaliplatin-containing regime. The study found that in patientspreviously treated with anoxaliplatin containing regimen,adding Zaltrap to Folfiri significantlyimproved median survival from12.06 months to 13.50 months, andresulted in significant improvementin progression-free survival from4.67 months to 6.90 months, whilsta 24% relative risk reduction wasalso observed.

Today in Pharmacy TODAY’S PD features two pagesof news, plus a full page from APIreminding pharmacists to order the2013 API Calendar, see p3 for details.

Timely reminder THE Olympic Games provides atimely reminder to pharmacists tohave the resources available tocheck on the medications that theyare dispensing and, in the case ofelite athletes, to be able to check ifthey are banned substances,according to the PSA. “APF22, provides information toassist pharmacists in their dispensingand other aspects of theirpharmacy practice,” said PSAPresident Grant Kardachi. “The section, Drugs in Sport, isespecially helpful in the case ofelite athletes as it details theprocesses that a pharmacist shouldgo through when dispensing anymedicines for athletes,” he added.

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Tuesday 07 August 2012

Weekly CommentWeekly Comment

Guild Update

EDITORS Bruce Piper and Amanda Collins EMAIL info@pharmacydaily.com.au ADVERTISING Magda Herdzik EMAIL advertising@pharmacydaily.com.au page 2

Academy Update The Guild PharmacyAcademy is proud toannounce the availability ofa new CPD accredited e-learning module availablefrom www.mycpd.org.autitled: MedsCheck Program –Introduction. There are 1.5 Group 2 CPDcredits available withsuccessful assessment. After completing thismodule, you will be able to• Be aware of the aims of the MedsCheck program;• Understand the registration and claiming process for MedsCheck;• Appreciate other resources available to assist in delivering the program;• Identify responsibilities of pharmacists performing MedsCheck and Diabetes MedsCheck services Due for release mid-August 2012 – the GuildPharmacy Academy will bereleasing a seconde-learning module regardingthe MedsCheck programwhich will explore how tocomplete a MedsCheck orDiabetes MedsCheckservice. MedsCheck Program –Introduction is available nowat: www.mycpd.org.au - Ifyou do not have a myCPDaccount, please visitwww.mycpd.org.au andclick myCPD Register here.

9–10 September 2012 Bringing professional services to LIFE

The Sebel Parramatta, Sydneywww.psa.org.au

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2012

PHARMACY LIVE

Esophagus grants THE Queensland Institute ofMedical Research will receive $2.4million in funding to study thecause of esophagus cancer. The deadly disease kills around70% of the people who contract it,and around 1000 Australians arediagnosed with it every year. The grant is just one of 17involved in the $42.3m medicalresearch funding recently doled outby the Government, with otherresearch grant winners set to lookinto cost-effective personalisedmedicine in breast cancer,nutritional solutions to majordiseases, antibiotic resistance forrespiratory infections, reducingchildren’s food allergies, and bettermanagement of blood used in thetreatment of trauma.

Parkinson’s on the PBS THIS month Australians livingwith Parkinson’s Disease will haveaccess to a new drug on thePharmaceutical Benefits Scheme,Azilect (rasagiline). The once daily tablet is approvedin Australia for the symptomatictreatment of idiopathic Parkinson’sdisease as monotherapy or asadjunct therapy (with concomitantlevodopa/decarboxylase inhibitortherapy). Although the precise mechanismsof the action of the drug areunknown, it is believed that oneaction is related to its MAO-Binhibitory activity, which causes anincrease in extracellular levels ofdopamine in the striatum. Thus, the elevated dopaminelevel and subsequent increaseddopaminergic activity are likely tomediate Azilect’s effects seen inmodels of dopaminergic motordysfunction. The drug has undergone threemultinational, double-blind,randomised, placebo-controlled,clinical studies, involving more than1,500 patients which togetherprovided statistically significant

evidence of efficacy, as well assafety and good tolerability. At present, around 64,000 Aussiesare living with Parkinson’s. Last year, an estimated 10,500new cases were diagnosed.

HONESTY is good for you! People who tell fewer fibs havebetter physical and mentalhealth, according to researchfrom the University of NotreDame. The research involved 110people between the ages of 18and 71 who took a lie detectortest once a week for ten weeks. During the ten week period 55participants were told to refrainfrom telling any lies, but werehowever allowed to omit truths,refuse to answer questions andkeep secrets. The other 55 participants werenot given any instructionsregarding lying. The results found that the lessthe no-lie group lied the bettertheir physical and mental healthbecame. “When they went up in theirlies, their health went down,”said head researcher ProfessorAnita Kelly. “When their lies went down,their health improved,” Kellyadded.

WASTE not want not. An innovative card company,Haathi Chaap, is making use ofelephant dung by pulping it andcrafting greeting cards out of it. The company is aiming at pulping30 tons of dung a month in orderto produce its “unique” paper. “Elephants’ gastrointestinaltract cannot digest fibres well,”said company owner VijenderShekhawat. “About 40% of everything goesthrough untouched but softenedand pre-pulped. “As a result, their dung makesfantastic paper when it is pressedand processed,” he added. Amongst the products to becrafted from the poo pulp arespecial Valentine’s Day cards. “People always worry aboutthe smell, but believe me thecards smell as sweet as any otherValentine’s Day cards on themarket,” said Vijender.

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