Fitness-to-drive rules in the spotlight after patient’s car crash death following GP appointment
A coroner has raised fresh concerns about fitness-to-drive rules after an 82-year-old crashed his van into a tree after leaving a GP clinic in a…
Heather Saxena
Heather is a medical reporter for Australian Doctor Group.
Doctor gets $165,000 payout as 1200 doctors finally compensated for unpaid overtime
More than a thousand doctors have received compensation — more than $150,000 in some cases — as part of a $31 million unpaid overtime settlement.…
Unqualified ‘birthkeeper’ charged $6000 to help with freebirth that ended in mother’s death: inquest
An unqualified ‘birthkeeper’ charged $6000 to act as a ‘friend’ during a freebirth that resulted in the mother’s death, an inquest has heard. Melbourne nutritionist…
Pharmacist prescribing plan crosses ‘critical safety threshold’, Avant warns
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s latest manoeuvre shows why governments must stop expanding pharmacists’ prescribing powers until the patient safety risks are addressed, a medical…
‘A real GP is made one crisis at a time’: One doctor’s lesson on the importance of continuity of care
Dr David Ringelblum has been a GP to multiple generations of families in Rowville, Victoria for over 30 years. In that time, he has supervised…
Premenstrual disorders have bidirectional association with psychiatric conditions, JAMA study finds
Women with premenstrual disorders have more than double the risk of developing a psychiatric disorder, particularly anxiety and depression, a study suggests. And the association is…
Why next month’s bulk-billing changes will hurt vulnerable patients
From July, every bulk-billed consultation will require the patient or their authorised representative to physically or electronically sign their ‘assignment of benefit agreement’ — approving…
Nurse practitioner who billed Medicare for spa clients to repay $500,000
A nurse practitioner will repay Medicare $500,000 after conducting unnecessary consultations with spa customers, who then received discounted spa services. The Professional Services Review (PSR)…
Medical Must-See: Doctors remove phone cable from man’s urethra
This British man lived for a decade with a self-inserted telephone cable in his urethra before he presented to doctors with urinary retention and sepsis.…
Let pharmacists prescribe for asthma, CVD risk and more to prevent 30,000 hospitalisations: Pharmacy Guild
Autonomous pharmacist prescribing for COPD, asthma, CVD risk reduction and contraception would cut GP appointments by 10 million a year, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia…
