December 2021

Auckland pharmacy academic Amy Chan, Ngā Kaitiaki o te Puna Rongoā president Mariana Hudson and Auckland pharmacist Natalia Nu’u have been appointed to the Pharmacy Council.

Pharmacist prescribers have had the list of drugs they can prescribe expanded for the first time since their role was established. Jonathan Chilton-Towle reports

Community/primary healthcare pharmacist of the year Pauline McQuoid is encouraging pharmacists, technicians, pharmacy teams and more to get their entries into next year’s New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards | He Tohu Mauri Ora.

Shingles tops Medsafe’s list of‘adverse effects of special interest’ – but can the jab actually cause shingles? Anna Lee investigates

A proposal to reduce restrictions on pharmacists dispensing the gout medication allopurinol has pushed through one more barrier

AFT Pharmaceuticals has asked the Medicines Classification Committee to reclassify ibuprofen 300mg in powder form as a pharmacist-only medicine, but the Pharmaceutical Society is not so sure.

COVID-19 lockdowns have made it difficult to get a pioneering hepatitis C pharmacy programme going, but momentum is building. Jonathan Chilton-Towle reports

Independent pharmacies across Aotearoa are continuing to close, with another seven pharmacies notifying the Ministry of Health of their closure since 4 September, in addition to the 16 that closed earlier this year.

Have you received a string of strange bookings for COVID jabs? You’re not alone, writes Anna Lee

An Auckland pharmacist has been found guilty of dispensing methadone and clozapine inappropriately on several occasions Jonathan Chilton-Towle reports