May 2023

In the eight years I have been with Pharmacy Today, there has never been a time when the sector we write about was free of problems. Today, as I take over as editor, many of the same challenges still exist, some have worsened while others are new.

Pharmacy Today has a new editor but remains in familiar hands.

The newly-formed Prescription Access Initiative group is calling on the Government to scrap the prescription copayment, saying evidence proves it fuels medication nonadherence and patient harm. Paulette Crowley reports

The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1957 helped cement New Zealand as an independent player in Antarctica, writes assistant professor of history Daniella McCahey

Community pharmacy will have its first meeting with Te Whatu Ora to negotiate the most significant contract in the sector. Paulette Crowley takes a look at the issues that may – or may not – be on the table

Adding pharmacists to the Green List for residency, alongside 31 other health professionals, is not expected to be a quick fix to solve staffing issues in the sector.

Te Whatu Ora has recovered more than $680,000 from pharmacies that claimed inappropriately for the schizophrenia injection paliperidone and says this may not be the only drug incorrectly dispensed and claimed for

WellSouth Primary Health Network has created two new pharmacist roles aimed at improving health outcomes for Māori and Pacific communities in Otago and Southland.

Feedback on the Therapeutic Products Bill was heard by the health select committee last month. Jonathan Chilton-Towle looks at what pharmacists had to say

Māori Pharmacists Association president Mariana Hudson reports on the organisation’s fifth symposium, Future Focus: Be the Change