The Editorial Executive Committee welcomes letters, which should be less than 250 words. Before a decision to publish is made, letters which refer to a published article may be sent to the author for a response. Any letter may be sent to an expert for comment. When letters are published, they are usually accompanied in the same issue by their responses or comments. The Committee screens out discourteous, inaccurate or libellous statements. The letters are sub-edited before publication. Authors are required to declare any conflicts of interest. The Committee's decision on publication is final.
Australian Prescriber readers are invited to write in with their questions about decisions of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. The segment 'Your questions to the PBAC' will publish selected questions from readers, and answers from the Committee itself. Questions may address issues such as regulatory decisions, pharmaceutical benefits listings, withdrawal of a drug from the market and Authority prescriptions.
This exclusive arrangement helps Australian Prescriber readers understand how the contents of the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits are determined. The 'yellow book' is published quarterly by the Department of Health and Ageing, and is also available on the internet*. It provides important information for doctors, dentists and pharmacists, including a summary of changes to listed items, which medicines are included or excluded from benefit, whether restrictions apply to medicines and how much patients should pay including price premiums for particular brands where applicable.
It may not be possible to reply to all individual questions to the PBAC. The usual editorial controls will apply so that only readers' letters and the responses selected by the Editorial Executive Committee will be published in the journal. Letters and responses may be edited before publication.
www1.health.gov.au/pbs/index.htm
