PCNZ “Bent Spoon”
November 30, 2015
The Pharmacy Council of New
Zealand has received a not-so-coveted
accolade, in the form of
the annual “Bent Spoon” award
from the NZ Skeptics Society.
The organisation has highlighted
a proposed change to the Council’s
Code of Ethics, currently the subject
of a consultation from industry
stakeholders, which would “allow
the sale of healthcare products that
have not been shown to work”.
NZ Skeptics and the Society for
Science Based Healthcare have
identified pharmacies selling
homeopathic and other unproven
“remedies” and put pressure on the
Pharmacy Council to enforce their
Code of Ethics.
In Aug this year the Council
proposed to change the wording
of the code to allow the sale of
“complementary therapies” which
are not supported by credible
evidence of efficacy.
The Pharmacy Council’s
consultation closed last month,
with submissions reviewed in a
board meeting on 17 Nov.
After receiving “high quality”
feedback the Pharmacy Council has
now delayed making a final decision
on the ethics clause, with chair
Andrew Bary saying “after careful
consideration, council has decided
it would be beneficial to engage
further with stakeholders before
reaching a final decision”.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 30 Nov 15To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 30 Nov 15
