In the media

Declining rural bulk-billing rates a sign of worse to come: RACGP
Falling numbers outside the major cities 'show that Medicare is under pressure'. The new Medicare data comes soon after the 1 July indexation, which will add just 60 cents to the patient rebate for an average GP consultation. Bulk billing in Queensland and the Northern Territory fell for the first time, by 0.1 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively, while Western Australia was up by 1.2 per cent (05 July 2019). More...

Court raises concerns Australia putting relations with Nauru before health of refugees
A Federal Court judge has raised concerns that the Australian Government is putting good relations with Nauru ahead of the health of refugees on the island (05 July 2019). More...

Fake 'physios' can still dodge AHPRA crackdown
While AHPRA's crackdown on the misleading use of health practitioners' "protected titles" by untrained or inappropriately trained individuals has been widely lauded, it seems one speciality has slipped through the net (05 July 2019). More...

Over half of chiropractors making misleading claims
The majority of chiropractors are breaching advertising guidelines on their websites, an audit has found. Chiropractors often failed to mention adverse outcomes (03 July 2019). More...

Fake practitioners face jail and hefty fines as new regulatory powers come into force
The penalty for anyone prosecuted by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency under the National Law for these offences now include bigger fines and the prospect of prison time (01 July 2019). More...

Published – articles, papers, reports

Comparative Analysis of Medicines Safety Advisories Released by Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom
Perry LT, Bhasale A, Fabbri A, Lexchin J, Puil L, Joarder M, et al. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2019;179(7):982-4
This piece in JAMA Internal Medicine reports on an analysis of safety advisories issued about medications by the regulators in four nations with similar medical traditions, population health, and demographics - Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States for the period 2007–2016. More...

Hospitalised injury and socioeconomic influence in Australia 2015–16
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: 03 July 2019
This report examined the associations between socioeconomic status and injury morbidity in Australia and looked at the effects of SES on hospitalised injury cases by age, sex, Indigenous status, and by a selection of external causes of injury. More...

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