Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the content and methods of ethics education for medical representatives as part of the continuing education program and to suggest a preferable supportive method of ethics education accordingly.
Method: A questionnaire was mailed to the medical representative education managers of all 214 companies, all members of the MR Education & Accreditation Center, Japan.  The questionnaire was carried out from 31st July 2009 to 25th August 2009, and data from this questionnaire survey was analyzed by simple and cross tables.
Results: Out of the 182 (response rate: 85.0%) who responded, we analyzed the 173 institutions for analysis as they responded as having the continuing education program.  In terms of education, “the fair competition code” was the most widely educated (82.6%).  Although “the fair competition code” required most time, “the ethics as a medical representative” was considered as the most important.  The simple kappa coefficient between actual educating item and important item was 0.29.  Answers were affected by whether he/she had experience as a medical representative.  As the method of ethics education, “lecture” style was most common (87.4% of respondents), “group work discussion” was considered the most effective (70.6%) for training a medical representative to think and learn by himself/herself.  The respondents of 82.2% referred to the continuing educations’ guidelines made by MR Education & Accreditation Center, and 81.0% respondents felt “training materials for lectures and/or discussions” necessary in the future.
Conclusion: The ethics education for medical representatives placed a disproportionate emphasis on the importance of “the fair competition code.” Dissociation was seen between the actual education and the education considered as important by the respondents.  Accordingly, there is a need for appropriate materials for training and for a more adequate curriculum, taking time and content of education into consideration, especially for contents which training ways aren’t built up.

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Objective: Optimizing the time of ingestion and avoiding overdose are important aspects of medication therapy.  However, seeking explanations for selecting the time of ingestion and maximum dose for a certain drug is time consuming.  The aim of this study is to develop a database (DB) that enables a rapid search of the basis for the time of ingestion and maximum dose setting.
Methods: The basis for the time of ingestion and maximum dose setting were surveyed for 38 and 184 drugs, respectively.  Package inserts, interview forms, and other documents preserved in our department were surveyed, and this was followed by an inquiry of the staff of pharmaceutical companies.  Standard responses to a prescription with incorrect timing or dosage were determined and included into a DB together with information whose quality was dissected.  The efficiency of DB was evaluated: the time taken to obtain information and consistency of inquiries to clarify doubts concerning prescription with the use of DB and without the use DB were compared.
Results: The information of newer drugs, but not of the older drugs, were easily obtained without the need to inquire the staff of the pharmaceutical companies.  Operation of the DB was convenient and was acceptable for most pharmacists working in our department.  The DB markedly reduced the time taken to obtain information.  Further, with the aid of DB, the consistency in the responses to inquiries to clarify doubts concerning a pharmacist’s recommendation was remarkably increased.
Conclusion: The DB developed in the present study may contribute to the improvement of not only the efficiency but also the quality of dispensation.

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Objective: To examine how best to provide information on over-the-counter (OTC) drugs in the future, the Japan Self-Medication Industry (JSMI) conducted an online survey on public attitudes toward changes in the system for controlling the sales of OTC drugs specified by the revised Pharmaceutical Affairs Act effective since June 2009.
Methods: A secure web-based questionnaire system was developed and linked to the JSMI website.  The survey was conducted between July 17 and August 31, 2009.
Results: Of the 4,257 people who responded to the questionnaire, 56.8% indicated they understood the provisions of the revised Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.  More than half of the responders had positive opinions of the revision.  They welcomed the improvement in convenience resulting from the availability of drugs at convenience stores, but “Druggists,” who are responsible for sales of the drugs, were not sufficiently represented among responders.  It was inferred that the general public feels that they should be able to purchase OTC drugs for self-medication after receiving sufficient information about the drugs from qualified sources.

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Objective: In recent years, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has actively promoted the use of generic drugs.  However, implementation of this policy has not progressed smoothly, and generic drug companies suggest that this is because medical staff and patients are not properly informed.  We examined pharmacists’ knowledge and opinions concerning generic drugs.
Methods: We conducteda questionnaire survey to determine community pharmacists’ opinions and understanding with regard to generic drugs.
Results: About 90% of pharmacists were apprehensive about the use of generic drugs.  All pharmacists scored low on factual questions, answering an average of 40 % correctly.  The question about the bioequivalence evaluation method in particular was poorly answered.  However, pharmacists’ anxiety about using generic drugs was not related to their knowledge.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that community pharmacists lack sufficient knowledge about generic drugs.  It is therefore necessary to educate them on the use of generic drugs.  Also, in order to allay pharmacists’ fears, it is important to improve the comprehensiveness of information concerning generic drugs.

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