Pharmaceuticals

Five ACT pharmacies will take part in a trial letting chemists resupply some oral contraceptives, but with tight requirements — including that patients have been prescribed the medication for over two years, are aged between 18 and 35, and are using it for contraceptive purposes.

As floodwaters cut off towns and Aboriginal communities during the devastating Kimberley floods this year, pharmacist Mary Baker had one main concern: How to get critical medications to those in need. She's since been nominated for the National Rural and Remote Health Award.

The first-ever bill to create a legal recreational marijuana market in Australia was lodged in federal parliament earlier this year — but not all cannabis enthusiasts are on board with the proposal to legalise it.

Women are being thrust back to the most severe stages of menopause amid long-running shortages of hormone replacement therapy patches.

An investigation into the business practices of a podiatrist who describes himself as probably the highest-paid practitioner in Australia has exposed some deep failings in the health system that open it up to rorting and privacy breaches.

It's Australia's worst pharmaceutical disaster. Now, more than 60 years later, thalidomide survivors and their families will receive a national apology.

A young pharmacy student never imaged a serious golfing mishap would lead to a lifelong business and romantic partnership.

Wouldn't it be handy if we could be vaccinated against influenza and COVID-19 with a single shot? Early clinical trials indicate that could be possible in a few years.

Antibiotics to treat urinary tract infections could soon be available from SA pharmacies without a doctor's prescription — but the move has been opposed by the AMA.

The team, funded by Kyoto University, say it wants to begin human clinical trials in less than a year. 

Eight farmers in the Benalla region are growing gum trees for biotech company Gretals as it researches using pinocembrin as a treatment for neurodegenerative diseases.

A trial allowing pharmacists to prescribe medications to Tasmanians in remote areas and aged care will start next year, in a move applauded by pharmacists but received with caution by doctors.

How did Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk become the proprietor of one of the most in-demand products in the world?

The drug Natalie Sinclair takes to keep her alive is among hundreds of medications that have been in short supply in Australia, but advocates fear stockholding laws for suppliers are having little impact on the ground.

Changes to the PBS that come into effect today could save people with chronic health conditions a lot of time and money. Here's why

Small pharmacy businesses are bracing for changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which comes into effect today, with patients able to collect double the supply of some medications for the price of a single prescription.

The opposition will no longer attempt to unwind the government's scheme to halve the cost of hundreds of medications, asking instead for the government to take its act of "good faith" as a chance to redesign the scheme.

A change in regulations will allow WA pharmacists to prescribe antibiotics for urinary tract infections, meaning people will no longer have to see their doctor to get a prescription. 

Back pain affects one in six Australians and costs health system billions every year.

Loved by many and a self-proclaimed "black sheep", Elaine McCormick has been supplying medicines and health advice to some of Queensland's most remote communities since she was 21 years old.

Spring Ridge hasn't had a doctor for 30 years, but that all changed when a local farmer met a pharmacist.

Decades of research on Alzheimer's disease have started to come to fruition, with at least three new drugs demonstrating the first glimmers of promise.

A cheap version of ketamine commonly used as a sedative might help some people with hard-to-treat depression, research finds, raising hopes that the off-label treatment could become less expensive.

US officials grant full approval to the closely watched Alzheimer's drug Leqembi, as Australia receives an application.

Bendigo mum Brooke Lee wants to see her daughter go to school and get married. A new clinical trial may help make that possible.