Newsletters & General

The Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Regulations 2019 (the Regulations) set the minimum quality standard that medicinal cannabis products and ingredients must meet before they can be supplied in New Zealand. Importers, manufacturers, and suppliers must apply for assessment and provide evidence to the Medicinal Cannabis Agency to verify that their products meet the minimum quality standard. KIKUYA Alta Oil [FS 10:10], has been verified as meeting the minimum quality standa

A systematic review in The Lancet 1  outlined the cardiometabolic issues with antidepressants.There were a few surprises: None had significant QT interval issues.  Systolic BP went up with amitriptyline and fluoxetine and down with nortriptyline.  Weight loss was observed with bupropion, sertraline, citalopram, paroxetine, and venlafaxine.  Weight gain was found with amitriptyline 1.6 kg and mirtazapine 0.87 kg. Heart rate increased (beats per minute) to 13.77 for nortriptyli

The Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Regulations 2019 (the Regulations) set the minimum quality standard that medicinal cannabis products and ingredients must meet before they can be supplied in New Zealand. Importers, manufacturers, and suppliers must apply for assessment and provide evidence to the Medicinal Cannabis Agency to verify that their products meet the minimum quality standard. Aurora Half Moon has been verified as meeting the minimum quality standard. More in

Allevia Hospitals is one of New Zealand’s largest private surgical hospital providers, with leading medical specialists.  Here's their team for the Symposium, ready to provide you with thorough and timely updates across a wide range of topics – from understanding perimenopausal bleeding patterns, weight-loss medication, managing nasal symptoms, to diagnosing and treating Anterior Cutaneous Nerve Entrapment Syndrome (ACNES): Wal Baraza | Jacob Munro | Craig Ball | Nadya York |

Less than 8 weeks to go!  Goodfellow Symposium 2026 In the meantime, here are our latest webinars and podcasts:  Adult ADHD: From diagnosis to long-term management WEBINAR 3 February, 7.30pm: Join Psychiatrist David Codyre who will provide practical guidance on continuing ADHD care once treatment has begun.  Register here   Ovarian cancer: diagnosis to treatment WEBINAR 10 February, 7.30pm: Join Gynae-Oncologist Cecile Bergzoll on offering practical guidance to ovarian cancer

Te Whata Kura is the new national antimicrobial guideline. It includes revised guidance around: Cellulitis, irrespective of patient BMI, 1000mg Flucloxacillin QID with food for 5 days. Cystitis, uncomplicated: Nitrofurantoin (Micronised version trade name Macrobid), so as not to confuse with the regular Nitrofurantoin and underdose the patient (100 mg BD for 5 days with food). Adult unilateral otitis media and no severe symptoms no antibiotics needed. Adult bilateral otitis m

We're starting the year with a flurry of premium content for you, and if you're thinking about coming to the Goodfellow Symposium in March, today is the last day to nab a bargain:  Goodfellow Symposium 2026 Medical ethics PODCAST episode: Professor Angela Ballantyne discusses some commonly encountered medical ethics cases in general practice.  Episode here   Adult ADHD: From diagnosis to long-term management WEBINAR 3 February, 7.30pm: Join Psychiatrist David Codyre who will

In this study of 200 patients with recurrent AF, patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either regular caffeinated coffee consumption or complete abstinence from coffee and caffeine for 6 months 1 . The consumption group was encouraged to drink at least one cup daily, while the abstinence group avoided all caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee and other caffeine products. Baseline intake was 7 cups per week in both groups. During follow-up, the median intake was 7 (

In this RCT, 382 children aged 5-15 years with asthma using budesonide 50 μg-formoterol 3 μg, two actuations as needed, equivalent to 1 puff Symbicort 100/6 or Vannair 100/6, were compared to salbutamol 100 ug as needed. 1 The primary outcome was asthma attacks as rate per participant per year. The annualised rate of asthma attacks was lower in the budesonide-formoterol group than in the salbutamol group, cluster-adjusted rates 0·23 versus 0·41 per participant per year (rela

People in New Zealand aspire to have a health care system that delivers world-class cancer care; a system that provides timely access to high-quality services designed around their specific needs and those of their whānau. Te Aho o Te Kahu | Cancer Control Agency undertakes national initiatives to improve cancer outcomes for people in New Zealand and to assemble and disseminate cancer data and information to inform decision-making and service delivery.  As part of our ongoing

As we come to the end of 2025, we want to thank you for being part of an extraordinary year. Together with your peers, you contributed to 25,000 webinar registrations, 60,000 podcast downloads, and 12,000 eLearning starts. In 2026, we’re committed to bringing you even more premium content created to empower primary care professionals. And we’re starting as we mean to go on, with:  Adult ADHD: From diagnosis to long-term management WEBINAR 3 February, 7.30pm: Join Psychiatrist

Kia ora   The December 2025 edition of Prescriber Update  is now available on the Medsafe website. Please can you share it with your networks.   Kind regards   Medsafe Pharmacovigilance Team

In a paper by Walsh et al, 1  there was concern expressed that excess body weight (EBW) contributes to many cancers in New Zealand, compounding health inequities with higher proportions of EBW-attributable cancers within Māori and Pacific populations. Pacific peoples had the highest population attributable fraction (PAF) (11.8%), and this was highest among Pacific females (16.1%). Māori also had a higher PAF (6.9%) than European/Other (4.5%). Early detection and prevention ar

Coming up in CPD:  Tricky question... What do Ralph Stewart, Samantha Newman, Ben Chan, Hannah Giles, Ryan Paul, Buzz Burrell (and about 60 others) all have in common? Here's the answer   Post-partum hypertension; practical management WEBINAR 2 December: Dr Jamie Kitt, dual accredited Cardiology & General Internal Medicine Consultant on how to achieve optimal blood pressure control in women puerperium.  Register here   Cannabis-based products The March Medicines Amendment Act

Smarter consults, better care: What to expect at the 2026 Symposium Need a fast and simple toolkit for mental health consults? Sophie Ball can help with that. Insomnia: a very common complaint within general practice. Alex Bartle will walk us through medication options and strategies to deliver some behavioural treatments within a short consultation. Prostate cancer care is changing fast. Discover how to lead smarter testing, engage in better conversations, and follow up more

A 2025 BMJ review found that a range of exercises were helpful for knee osteoarthritis 1 . The findings demonstrated that exercise was effective at improving pain, function, gait performance, and quality of life in individuals with knee osteoarthritis. There is a lack of studies comparing different types of exercise. None of the exercise interventions resulted in more adverse safety events than the control group, suggesting that exercise therapy is a safe treatment approach.

Coming up in CPD:  Goodfellow Symposium 2026 21/22 March 2026: Practical, evidence-based clinical skills you can use next week:  Check it out here .  Asthma update: latest treatments and practical tips WEBINAR 18 November: Angela Moran reviews the NZ Asthma guidelines and discusses the types of asthma and which treatments may be appropriate for these, including biologic therapies.    Register here   Updates in gout and weight management WEBINAR 25 November: Join Lisa Stamp, R

Sleep is something we are frequently asked about in primary care. One interesting study 1 , albeit dated, used a cohort of patients with self-reported sleep problems. Participants consumed two medium-sized kiwifruit one hour before bedtime for four weeks and tracked activity using actigraphy and sleep diaries. There was an association with improvements in sleep quality, sleep onset latency, total sleep time, and sleep efficiency. The proposed mechanism includes the presence

Kia ora koutou,   A reminder that feedback on Te Whata Kura, our new national antibiotic guideline, is due this Monday 10 November at 07:00 h  (a small extension).   As Te Whata Kura is a new domain, some people have had issues accessing https://tewhatakura.nz  on a networked device.  If this is you, please ask your IT folk to unblock the site and, while this is resolving, please access Te Whata Kura on your non-networked devices such as your phone with mobile data or your ho