NHMRC guidance on puberty blockers published next week, but the big question remains
The long-running and often bitter debate over medical treatment for young people with gender dysphoria will reach a turning point on Monday with the release…
Paul Smith
Paul is editor of Australian Doctor Group.
Out of control? Read the blueprint for targeting the 2000 specialists accused of charging patients too much
A blueprint for forcing some 2000 specialists to pay back Medicare rebates over allegedly excessive fees has been released this week. It has been put…
Pharmacist prescribing of oral contraceptives — Federal Govt explains to AusDoc why it bypassed PBAC, TGA and MSAC
This week, AusDoc reported that the Federal Government decided to bypass the PBAC, TGA and Medical Services Advisory Committee and directly fund pharmacy consults and…
Is the medical board’s mandatory CPD regime still a waste of time? AusDoc survey results
When mass misery first descended in response to the Medical Board of Australia’s revamped CPD regime, AusDoc interviewed its then-chair, Dr Anne Tonkin. We pointed…
Doughnuts keeping doctors afloat at ‘s**tshow’ ED
A doctor at an ED frequently operating at 200% capacity says the work is so demoralising that the delivery to the ED team of leftover…
When successful surgery is deemed an ‘injury’: Inside a bewildering legal entanglement
Here, doctor-turned-lawyer Dr Benjamin Koh describes how a compulsory insurance scheme for injured drivers has arrived at a conclusion no clinician would reach — that…
Medical colleges draw line on ‘extreme fees’ with new patient guide
Australia’s medical colleges have launched a fact sheet for patients to discuss costs with specialists as part of their ongoing bid to address “extreme fees”.…
Podcast: Listen to the psychiatrist who won this year’s Nobel prize for medicine
When Professor Karl Deisseroth was studying medicine in the 1990s, he took a rotation working with psychiatric patients. It would start him down a path…
Does the term ‘obstetric violence’ obscure the harms resulting from the promotion of ‘normal births’?
“The words being used set an agenda that casts obstetricians as perpetrators.” This was obstetrician Dr Vijay Roach. He was writing in 2023 during a…
Antibiotics for acute appendicitis linked to increased risk of colorectal cancer
Appendicectomy was associated with a 58% lower relative risk of colorectal cancer than antibiotics for acute appendicitis after accounting for individual risk factors, new research…
