This week’s legal action by tobacco giant Philip Morris to overturn the federal government’s plain packaging proposals is not its first attempt to stifle anti-tobacco legislation. Philip Morris is also…
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In the latest salvo in the fight over plain packaging for tobacco products, Philip Morris is launching legal action under Australia’s bilateral investment treaty with Hong Kong. The key aspect of Philip…
Left handers have copped their share of bad publicity in the past. The term used to describe left handers in English is “sinistral”, which is derived from the word “sinister”. And it’s no better in other…
Industry self-regulation has failed to change the amount of fast food advertising targeting Australian children, according to new research from the Prevention Research Collaboration and NSW Cancer Council…
Lawmakers in the United States introduced legislation overnight to legalise marijuana while giving states the right to regulate, tax and control it. Meanwhile, Australia doesn’t even allow the use of medical…
The Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released its latest report on how much money the Commonwealth and State governments spend on the health of Indigenous Australians. Despite being…
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has just issued a warning letter about the safety of CSL’s influenza vaccine, Fluvax. The letter follows FDA’s latest annual inspection of CSL laboratories and…
Since mandatory bike helmet laws were introduced in 1991, researchers, cyclists and campaigners have debated the law’s role in cyclist safety and the desirability of bike riding. A new analysis reveals…
Doctors are supposed to keep patient information confidential unless told otherwise, right? Well, not any longer. If you’re diagnosed with a genetic disorder, medical specialists are now allowed to contact…
The SensaSlim company’s recent defamation suit against Dr Ken Harvey of La Trobe University highlights some of the regulatory problems facing complementary products in Australia. Dr Harvey initiated a…
The fanfare around Health Minister Nicola Roxon’s announcement yesterday that the government would fund 13 new medicines on the PBS is a reminder of the power and influence involved in the selection and…
Use of complementary medicine (CAM) is widespread but often condemned by medical practitioners as being baseless or quackery. But some practices that fall under the umbrella of CAM do have a basis in evidence…
Even a cursory glance at Australia’s mental health system indicates shortcomings in the provision of a range of services to people with mental impairments. Since 1993, when the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity…
A number of public health experts have written a letter to the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Parlimentarians in support of the mandatory pre-commitment system for poker machines. The signatories…
In its latest attempt to derail the plain cigarette packaging legislation, Big Tobacco has pulled out one of its favourite pro-tobacco messages: say no to a nanny state. The print advertisements and website…
On March 18, 2011, I submitted my first complaint about the promotion of SensaSlim to appropriate authorities – the Complaint Resolution Panel (CRP) which hears complaints about alleged breaches of the…
It’s time to ignore any advice you’ve heard about your sweat and hard work in the gym sabotaging your weight loss efforts by causing you to eat more. Every little bit of exercise can help shift unwanted…
Prevention is the cornerstone of society’s response to the current obesity epidemic. But even if no more people were to gain much more weight, those who are already obese face serious health problems…
It’s normal to feel down in the dumps from time to time, so drawing a line between low moods and mental illness is understandably fraught. But are health professionals treating normal sadness as a clinical…
Should health professionals play a role in identifying would-be terrorists? If you’re in the United Kingdom, the answer seems to be yes. In 2007, the United Kingdom launched a counter-terrorism strategy…
A controversy is brewing on the website Psychology Today and subsequently in The Australian newspaper. At the heart of the issue is US psychiatrist Dr Allen Frances’ comments on the Australian Federal…
Almost half of all cigarettes smoked in Australia, the US and the UK are smoked by people with a mental illness. It’s a startling statistic and it paints a grim picture for the physical health of the one…
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called for a ban on the sale of pre-packaged alcoholic energy drinks based on recent research, echoing a similar call for bottle shops to stop selling pre-packaged…
Let’s be clear: immunisations matter. They matter a lot. We all have a complex and ever-changing ecology of microorganisms and parasites inside our bodies and in our community. A recent fatal case of diphtheria…
In 2002, the Australian federal Parliament passed two Acts to regulate human embryo and stem cell research. The Prohibition of Human Cloning Act banned practices that people seemed to be most worried about…