Comment

Anyone who has attended one of these events, or even bothered to gather accurate information about them, will know most healthcare professionals attend in spite of the food, not because of it

The proposed change to the payment and budgeting of rebates is clearly a policy change. The association has not been consulted.

The supply and pricing of PBS medicines to hospitals is one of the sector's worst-kept secrets - nobody should really be surprised the system is experiencing extensive shortages given current procurement practices.

The Turnbull government is promoting an innovation agenda, through policy vehicles like the Medical Research Future Fund, while slowly chipping away at other important components of the eco-system.

NPSA chair Mark Hooper says wholesalers welcome an additional $15 million for the CSO but the Budget also leaves 'unfinished business'.

Labor senator Murray Watt emerged last week as a new bête noire of Australian public servants. Officials may have been frustrated by his effective questioning but maybe not as frustrated as health minister Greg Hunt.

The revised draft Ezetimibe Post-market Review Report must surely rank as a largely pointless exercise.

The review report might be finding its way to health minister Greg Hunt but what really matters are the actions, commitments and and undertakings of Australia's political leaders.

Jody Fassina of Insight Strategy gives his thoughts on why an early federal election - in 2018 - is more likely than not.

Australians will feature prominently at a World Health Organisation forum on the pricing of pharmaceuticals being held in Amsterdam later this week.

Sigma's Mark Hooper, NPSA chair, says the analogy of the boiling frog – the one where the paddling amphibian is blissfully ignorant the water is getting gradually hotter until it’s too late – is unfortunately apt for Australia’s pharmaceutical supply chain.

According to Simon Davies, managing director of Bastion Brands, the increasing consumer focus on health and wellness is an opportunity for the pharmaceutical sector.