In the shadow of the carbon tax, Australia’s e-health records scheme rolled out on July 1 with what can only be described as a very soft launch. Unlike the carbon tax, the e-health records scheme is voluntary…
Pharmaceutical companies will be required to disclose more details about their financial ties to doctors under a revised self-regulatory code, but they have resisted calls to name doctors individually…
Doctors, just like the rest of the population, make personal choices about drug use. Some choose to use legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol; others take illicit substances like cannabis and amphetamines…
Most of us consider health care to be a basic human right, rather than a privilege. In both philosophical and practical terms, the availability of high-quality health care is a national imperative. But…
Going to the doctor is, in many ways, like visiting a car sales yard. The customer has a limited knowledge of the product and the supplier may have a financial incentive to over-service or overcharge…
A top Australian medical journal has called for an end to prolonged mandatory detention of refugees, warning that time in detention is associated with poor mental and physical health. The Medical Journal…
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne