Pharmacy History
Coalition would ‘free’ pharmacists from clerical work
“The way we handle prescriptions is 20 years out of date”, opposition health spokesperson says The year is 1984 and the Coalition wants to “free pharmacists from clerical duties” to …
‘Between the two there was no compromise’
The AJP goes back to the 1950s with historic legislation being passed in Victoria, to allow Friendly Societies to dispense – plus price-cutting, antibiotic stewardship and the likely outlawing of …
‘Friday nights are a waste of time’
Pharmacists told us they were barely breaking even with the introduction of new trading hours, while in the world of hospital pharmacy, we looked at the new technology of heart …
‘Rough on rats’ killer sentenced
It’s October 1894, and the AJP reports on a Victorian serial killer – and the pharmacist who gave evidence against her “The trial of the wholesale poisoner, Martha Needle, for …
Pharmacy’s ‘wave of violence’
Drug “experimenters” fuel crime, salaries plummet in comparison to other professionals, and the vexed issue of penalty rates arises – is the sector having a 70s Summer? Many of the …
Is pharmacy going to the ‘demnition bow-wows’?
One country nationalises its pharmacies, we publish a tongue-in-cheek complaint about “girls” becoming chemists, and we find out why chemists don’t get rich The October 1924 issue of the Australasian …
Scrutinising monopolies
It’s 1944, and while World War Two rages, Australia is sitting on a vast amount of reserved drugs – while the AJP offered some thoughts on monopolies In our October, …
‘Great difficulty in replenishing stocks’ on the 1914 horizon
With the Great War underway, how will medicines supply be affected in the Antipodes? Our September, 1914 edition began with a contribution by an E.F. Lipsham from Adelaide, who noted …
Diphtheria antitoxin use plummets
It’s 1964 and the times are changing – as are the diseases facing Australians, as the AJP pointed out in an in-depth look at one hospital pharmacy In our September …
Should the ‘chain store menace’ be curbed?
Our September 1934 issue focused on the vexed issue of chain stores, with some calling for governments to step in to limit them We began with commentary from Alan Foley, …
How to survive telephone shopping and video phones
There’s careless whispers coming from Canberra about a potential reduction in the number of pharmacies in Australia, as AJP goes back to the future of the first Guild-Government agreement It’s …
Barbiturate, alcohol warning…and an arsenic retrospective
Barbiturate poisonings on the rise, a proposal to require scripts for the “so-called tranquilising drugs” and a crackdown on arsenic sales – how pharmacy was changing in the 50s The …