GPs encouraged to upskill in opioid dependence treatment An RACGP program aims to help GPs better understand this ‘rewarding’ area of medicine and boost authorised prescriber numbers.
Prescriber shock: ‘My patient is lying to me’ Real-time prescription monitoring is no silver bullet, but GPs can use it to help patients make better health choices, writes Dr Hester Wilson.
Victoria first state to adopt mandatory prescription monitoring From 1 April, all prescribers in the state will be required to view patients’ prescription histories.
Take-home naloxone ‘saves lives’ Currently in a pilot phase across three states, naloxone would be more effective if further patient education was provided, one expert says.
Listen, assess, encourage, support: Requests for drugs of dependence The RACGP has released a new guide designed to help GPs identify and respond to requests that might be inappropriate.
Australians say yes to pill testing, new poll confirms The Essential Report has revealed 59% of people support a pill testing policy, with 17% opposing it.
How can GPs best approach patients dependent on opioids? Showing empathy is vital for all patients with opioid dependence – even if they are seeking drugs.
Doctor shopping and what it means for GPs For the sixth in a series on legal matters in general practice, newsGP spoke with two experts regarding what GPs need to know about doctor shopping.
How cutting back on mood-altering medication may have given one patient his life back Dr Hester Wilson, GP and Chair of the RACGP’s Specific Interests Addiction Medicine network, reflects on the challenges of helping a patient get off his long-term medications.
Discussing the effects of codeine up-scheduling in general practice Dr Evan Ackermann, GP and key author of the RACGP’s ‘Prescribing drugs of dependence in general practice: Part C’, talks with newsGP about his initial experiences following the up-scheduling of codeine.