States of confusion: Jurisdictional variation in Australian medicines nomenclature

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Author(s)
Hope, DL
King, MA
Year published
2015
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In December 2000, the Galbally Review recommended Australia achieve national uniformity in drugs and poisons legislation. While the Commonwealth Poisons Standard classifies and schedules medicines and poisons, the Australian States and Territories are responsible for regulating the supply of medicines and poisons through individual medicines legislation. In December 2013, this legislation was examined to identify the nomenclature used to describe medicines and poisons. The research found considerable variation across jurisdictions in terms of the nomenclature used, in particular the terms used for Schedules in the State and ...
View more >In December 2000, the Galbally Review recommended Australia achieve national uniformity in drugs and poisons legislation. While the Commonwealth Poisons Standard classifies and schedules medicines and poisons, the Australian States and Territories are responsible for regulating the supply of medicines and poisons through individual medicines legislation. In December 2013, this legislation was examined to identify the nomenclature used to describe medicines and poisons. The research found considerable variation across jurisdictions in terms of the nomenclature used, in particular the terms used for Schedules in the State and Territory legislation were often inconsistent with each other and to the terms used in the Poisons Standard. Of most concern is that the same term may be used to describe different medicines in different jurisdictions, leading to possible confusion for health practitioners working across jurisdictions as is now possible under national registration. It is therefore imperative that national uniformity of drugs and poisons legislation is achieved to facilitate a common practice reference.
View less >
View more >In December 2000, the Galbally Review recommended Australia achieve national uniformity in drugs and poisons legislation. While the Commonwealth Poisons Standard classifies and schedules medicines and poisons, the Australian States and Territories are responsible for regulating the supply of medicines and poisons through individual medicines legislation. In December 2013, this legislation was examined to identify the nomenclature used to describe medicines and poisons. The research found considerable variation across jurisdictions in terms of the nomenclature used, in particular the terms used for Schedules in the State and Territory legislation were often inconsistent with each other and to the terms used in the Poisons Standard. Of most concern is that the same term may be used to describe different medicines in different jurisdictions, leading to possible confusion for health practitioners working across jurisdictions as is now possible under national registration. It is therefore imperative that national uniformity of drugs and poisons legislation is achieved to facilitate a common practice reference.
View less >
Journal Title
Journal of Law and Medicine
Volume
22
Copyright Statement
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Journal of Law and Medicine and should be cited as Hope and King, States of confusion: Jurisdictional variation in Australian medicines nomenclature, (2015) 22 JLM 811. For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980 or online at legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/search. The official PDF version of this article can also be purchased separately from Thomson Reuters at http://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/journals/subscribe-or-purchase.
Subject
Biomedical and clinical sciences
Clinical pharmacy and pharmacy practice
Law and legal studies
Philosophy and religious studies
Health services and systems
Law in context