Differences in laws around medicines between Australian states and territories are putting patients and health professionals at risk, according to a study published in the new edition of the SHPA's Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research this week.
A team of Griffith University researchers led by Denise Hope and Michelle King reviewed the legislation and highlighted a range of "inconvenient to life threatening" issues.
Varying rules around the requirements for patient birth dates on scripts, whether pharmacies must retain repeats in different jurisdictions and differences in S4 and S8 listings were cited, with the researchers saying the 2001 Galbally Review recommended uniform medicines legislation between states with "little progress" since then.
"Probably the most urgent reform can be achieved within the SUSMP...if consistent sub-schedules of medications were created we could already begin to reduce significant legislation differences between states," said Dr King.
The Sep 2016 edition of the JPPR is now accessible by SHPA members.
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