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Michelle Holley holds a photograph of her daughter Jaime Holley, 19, who died of a heroin overdose in November 2016. Lynne Sladky/AP Photo

The opioid epidemic in 6 charts

Your guide to a public health crisis that’s likely to get worse.
Off-label use is when an approved medicine is prescribed for a different reason, at a different dose, or in different patient groups than originally intended. Benny Lin/Flickr

Explainer: why are off-label medicines prescribed?

The off-label use of medicines is not illegal and it doesn’t mean regulators have specifically “disapproved” its use. But there are a number of issues to consider before using a medicine off-label.
Food can prevent certain medicines being absorbed into the bloodstream. Bertalan Szürös/Flickr

Explainer: why must some medications be taken with food?

Have you ever been advised to take a medicine with food? How about taking a medicine with cola or avoiding grapefruit? Hundreds of medicines have food-related dosing instructions. With four out of five…
Most people overestimate the benefits and underestimate the harms of medical intervention. Barbara M./Flickr

Great expectations: our naive optimism about medical care

“It might do me some good and it won’t hurt to give it a go.” How often have you heard a phrase like this? Most people have naïve optimism about medical care. That’s the finding of a systematic review…
Why are hospitals running out of critical drugs? IV drip via Bhakpong/Shutterstock

Drug shortage crisis puts public health at risk

Hospitals and pharmacies around the country are facing severe shortages of essential drugs. These shortages can limit access to critical medications and compromise patient safety, resulting in serious…
Pills ok during pregnancy? We can’t know if we don’t study them. Medications image via www.shutterstock.com

Pregnant women must be studied too

Imagine being pregnant while having a chronic health condition such as diabetes, hypertension, depression or asthma, or being diagnosed with an illness while pregnant. Amazingly, your doctor may not know…
Drug reps form a huge part of the industry’s marketing strategy. Alexander Raths/Shutterstock

Why I don’t see drug reps – a GP’s take on Big Pharma spruiking

Here’s what I remember. It was 14 years ago, and I was a junior doctor working in psychiatry. Some colleagues planned a dinner as an end-of-term celebration and, despite reasonable incomes, they decided…
Australia already has a category of nurse specialists who can prescribe some medicines – nurse practitioners. Burlingham/Shutterstock

Leave prescribing to doctors and nurse practitioners

We started the week with a new proposal by the Grattan Institute to shake up the hospital workforce and allow nurses to take on more roles traditionally performed by doctors. But should registered nurses…

Testosterone overprescribed

Testosterone prescriptions have expanded since 2006 due to promotional activity, a study in the MJA suggests. This has resulted…

E-prescriptions could slash errors in hospitals

Electronic prescribing technology could reduce mistakes made by hospitals in medication prescriptions by up to 66%, a study has found. The study of the technology in two hospitals found procedural errors…

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