CPD for pharmacists

This free course will guide you through the adverse event reporting process. Reporting adverse events is important to ensure that therapeutic products continue to be safe.

If there are no features of serious disease, suspected gastro-oesophageal reflux disease can be initially managed with a trial of a proton pump inhibitor for 4–8 weeks. This should be taken 30–60 minutes before food for optimal effect.

Charlotte Keung and Geoffrey Hebbard, Aust Prescr 2016:39:6-10

Naloxone is a competitive antagonist at opioid receptors. It can be administered to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

Patients may be susceptible to adverse drug events during acute illness due to comorbidities or medicine use. 

Listen to our multidisciplinary panel of experts as they discuss the prevention of CV events in patients with both type 2 diabetes and CVD.

Chronic hepatitis C infection causes cirrhosis, liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma, and is the most common indication for liver transplantation. Hepatitis C is curable and complications can be prevented.

Alex J Thompson and Jacinta A Holmes, Aust Prescr 2015;38:191-7

Most commonly used drugs are relatively safe for breastfed babies. The dose received via milk is generally small and much less than the known safe doses of the same drug given directly to neonates and infants.

Persistent cigarette smokers usually have a nicotine addiction. This addiction has a chronic relapsing and sometimes remitting course and may persist lifelong.

Mike McDonough, Aust Prescr 2015;38:106-11

Long-term treatment with warfarin is recommended for patients with atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke and those with recurrent venous thrombosis or prosthetic heart valves.

Philip A Tideman, Rosy Tirimacco, Andrew St John, Gregory W Roberts
Aust Prescr 2015;38:44-8