Dear Colleague
Welcome to this special edition of best practice journal.
This edition has been produced as part of an education programme for community pharmacists to support the paroxetine brand change.
The brand of subsidised paroxetine hydrochloride 20 mg tablets is changing from Aropax to Loxamine, as a result of a recent agreement with generic supplier Pacific Pharmaceuticals. From 1 April 2007, Loxamine will be available fully subsidised without the need for endorsement, and Aropax will be delisted from the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1st September.
The education programme accompanying this change has been funded by Pharmac. This is in recognition that increased interaction with patients affected by this brand change is likely to result in both a greater necessity and opportunity for you to discuss the treatment of depression with your patients.
The purpose of the education programme then, is to provide you with an update on the current approaches to the treatment of depression and with information designed to specifically assist with counselling patients through the change.
Bpac will also host a series of paroxetine change meetings throughout the country over the coming weeks. These meetings, which will include presentations from local psychiatrists, will be an excellent opportunity to learn more about the treatment of depression and we encourage you to attend. You will receive further information about the meetings including dates and locations over the coming weeks.
We hope you find this special edition of the best practice journal useful and as always we welcome your comments and suggestions.
Regards,
The bpacnz team
