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Review of pharmacy recalls
03 June 2010
Health Minister Tony Ryall has announced a review of pharmacy recalls by his ministry. The review will start on 8 June and be completed within a month.
Four consumer level recalls in the past five months have tested community pharmacy’s patience by increasing workload.
Mr Ryall says the recalls are an important part of ensuring the public have access to safe and effective medicines as medicines that don’t measure up are recalled.
“Pharmacists have asked whether the processes, contracting and compensation arrangements for medicine recalls are adequate. I believe the issue could benefit from closer scrutiny,” he says in a statement.
An external advisor will be appointed to assist with the review and Pharmacy Guild is hoping that advisor will be an experienced community pharmacist.
In a separate statement, the guild says it welcomes any move by the minister to establish clear procedures for managing recalls.
“Sector agreement is crucial for patient safety, the credibility of recalls and for how pharmacy is to be compensated for the time involved in managing recalls,” chief executive Annabel Young says, adding the guild is pleased that the minister has recognised the seriousness of the issue, both in terms of patient safety and the impact on the wider health sector.
The terms of reference for the review are available
here.
The guild says although these are quite limited, it is hopeful the review will answer the important questions, including:
- What is the process used to establish the risk to patient safety?
- At what point in the process is a recall triggered?
- Who decides how patients are contacted and how the recall is managed?
- How should pharmacists or other health professionals be compensated for their time when a medicine is recalled?
- Who is responsible for ensuring the recall is successful?
- What are the repercussions for a supplier if the recall is not performed effectively?
- How do we preserve the credibility of recalls?
Incidentally, medicine recalls are also currently the subject of litigation involving community pharmacist Ian Johnson.
Mr Johnson is the owner of Johnson’s Pharmacy in Otara and has served a notice of claim on GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in response to GSK’s Consumer Level medicine recall of Marevan (warfarin) 3mg tablets on 28 January.
Mr Johnson, also the President of the guild, is filing this notice as a test case as GSK has refused to pay his invoice of $395.10 (including GST) for time spent managing the recall.
“We have tried to sit around the table with GSK to work this out, but have had no luck meeting with them,” Ms Young says.
Comments
If Annabel Young doesn't learn something about the pharmacists she supposedly represents SOON and before shooting her mouth off again, the reputation of pharmacy will go down the toilet with her.
Calling for the advisor to be "an experienced community pharmacist" when the review looks at the industrial and clinical processes in assessing risk in recalls is ludicrous.
Ian Johnson - your CEO is damaging the profession!
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