The Health News Australia October 26 2017

• The threat of corporate discount pharmacies on small, family-run businesses has triggered a review of pharmacy ownership laws in Western Australia.  WA Health Minister Roger Cook says the “invasion” of the big chains would undermine the quality of care and service provided by community pharmacies.
• An inquest has heard that prison doctors prescribed Edward Haenga who died in a Sydney jail a cocktail of pills that may have contributed to his dangerously unhealthy weight of 199 kilograms. Deputy NSW coroner Derek Lee is examining how the medications Haenga was on may have contributed to his massive weight gain, and if his medication was properly monitored by prison doctors.
• University of Queensland researcher Professor Peter Slyis calling for a national bio-monitoring program to track pollution exposure levels and their possible health effects on the population. The call comes after The Lancet Commission on pollution and health released a report last week which found diseases caused by pollution were responsible for an estimated nine million premature deaths worldwide in 2015.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 26th of  October 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto. Health News

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/pharmacy-ownership-laws-in-perth-wa-set-for-review/news-story/e0377487fdea73f40deef6516bd623bd

The threat of corporate discount pharmacies on small, family-run businesses has triggered a review of pharmacy ownership laws in Western Australia. WA Health Minister Roger Cook says a “root and branch” review will examine the type and quality of services offered by pharmacies and their role in the community. He added:  “What we’ve seen in other states is that pharmacies have tended towards the big corporate discount pharmacies, so they compete on price, not on quality of service. ” More than fifty four thousand prescriptions are dispensed from WA’s six hundred forty two registered pharmacies each year, representing about eleven percent of the national market.

Mister Cook says the “invasion” of the big chains would undermine the quality of care and service provided by community pharmacies. To own a pharmacy in WA a person must be a registered pharmacists, or close family member with a stake in the business, be recognised by the state pharmacy registration board and own no more than four businesses at once. Pharmacy Guild of Australia WA acting president Andrew Ngeow says there is no problem with a competitive price market, except if it creates a culture in which costs trump service to the detriment of health.
The state government will hold public consultations until December eight, with the final report due in March two thousand eighteen.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-23/obese-inmate-prescribed-cocktail-of-drugs-by-prison-doctors/9077046

An inquest has heard that prison doctors prescribed an inmate who died in a Sydney jail a cocktail of pills that may have contributed to his dangerously unhealthy weight of one hundred ninety nine kilograms.  Inmate Edward Haenga weighed one hundred fifty kilograms when he had a medical review at the privately run Junee jail in country New South Wales in two thousand eleven.

He was transferred to Long Bay prison in Sydney in two thousand thirteen, and died a few months later weighing one hundred ninety nine kilograms.An autopsy revealed the thirty seven-year-old who was found in his cell on June nine, two thousand thirteen, had an obesity-related heart condition. Deputy NSW coroner Derek Lee is examining how the medications Haenga was on may have contributed to his massive weight gain, and if his medication was properly monitored by prison doctors.

Glebe Coroners Court has heard the New Zealand-born man who grew up in Sydney had been prescribed methadone, strong pain relief, anti-inflammatory drugs, various antipsychotic drugs and antidepressants including Lexapro and Seroquel. During his time in jail he was hospitalised for pneumonia and septicaemia in two thousand eleven.

He had started taking medication for pain and post-traumatic stress disorder after sustaining burns to seventy five per cent of his body when he was in a house fire at the age of eighteen. The Counsel Assisting the coroner, Peter Aitken, said questions will be raised about why there is no clear record of a handover from the prison doctors who treated Haenga at Junee, to his treating doctors in Sydney.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/researcher-urges-nation-not-to-be-complacent-with-pollution-20171024-p4ywml.html

A Brisbane researcher is calling for a national bio-monitoring program to track pollution exposure levels and their possible health effects on the population. The call comes after The Lancet Commission on pollution and health released a report last week which found diseases caused by pollution were responsible for an estimated nine million premature deaths worldwide in two thousand fifteen. University of Queensland researcher Professor Peter Sly was involved with the report and said pollution was “not considered a big issue” in Australia because it was hard to visualise. He added” “If you look outside, particularly in the city, you don’t see a lot of what you recognise as obvious air pollution.”

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in two thousand fifteen, air pollution results in three thousand premature deaths each year in Australia, costing the nation up to twenty four point three billion dollars in health expenses every year. The National Pollutant Inventory released data in two thousand sixteen showing central Queensland was home to nine of the worst ten mines in Australia for coarse particle pollutants or PM10, which can cause respiratory problems, cancer and leach toxic chemicals into the blood, depending on the source.
Professor Sly said Queenslanders were at already at risk from pollution and used the discovery of firefighting foam chemicals, at various locations across the state, including Oakey and Brisbane airport, and the lead exposure at Mount Isa as examples.
He said a bio-monitoring program similar to the United States’ NHANES study, which combines interviews with physical examinations in repeated studies across the country, could help track exposure to pollution and its possible effects.

Professor Sly said knowing the population levels of various chemicals and disease outcome data could help establish possible links.