Category Archives: Health

ASA cracks down on online pharmacies advertising weight loss injections

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Watchdog releases nine new rulings setting clear precedents for online selling

Online pharmacies are no longer allowed to run adverts for weight loss injections, the advertising watchdog has ruled, as part of a crackdown on what has been described as a “wild west” culture of online selling.

In the UK, advertising prescription-only medications (POMs) – which includes all weight loss jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro – to the public is illegal. However, a Guardian investigation previously found some online pharmacies either breaking these rules outright, or exploiting grey areas to peddle the medications to the public.

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NHS bosses fear fresh resident doctors’ strikes could embolden other staff

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The Royal College of Nursing and Unison are undertaking indicative ballots to assess members’ willingness to strike

A looming fresh wave of strikes by resident doctors could encourage other NHS staff including nurses to take industrial action over pay, health service bosses fear.

Resident doctors, formerly junior doctors, in England are threatening to stage stoppages until January in pursuit of their demand for a 29% pay rise, after 90% voted in favour in a ballot on a 55% turnout.

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Liverpool mobile greengrocer to reach ‘food deserts’ with aid of mapping tool

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Exclusive: Government-funded pilot in areas where it’s ‘easier to buy a vape than an apple’ may be extended across UK

A mobile greengrocer will deliver fresh fruit and vegetables in areas of Liverpool where it is “easier to buy a vape than an apple” as part of a new government scheme to tackle food inequality.

Families in social housing will receive visits from the Queen of Greens, a mobile greengrocer in the city, which will be directed to the areas of highest need.

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Australian doctors call for clampdown on social media influencers allegedly glamourising poker machines

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Doctors’ warning comes after report reveals the social cost of gambling in Victoria had doubled to $14bn

The peak body for Australian doctors has urged politicians and social media companies to restrict “shocking” content of influencers allegedly glamourising poker machines on social media, in what it called an incredibly new phenomenon.

The warning comes after a report commissioned by the Victorian government found the social cost of gambling in the state had doubled – from $7bn in 2014-15 to $14bn in 2022-23 – despite fewer people gambling.

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Weedkiller ingredient widely used in US can damage organs and gut bacteria, research shows

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Diquat is banned in the UK, EU, China and other countries. The US has resisted calls to regulate it

The herbicide ingredient used to replace glyphosate in Roundup and other weedkiller products can kill gut bacteria and damage organs in multiple ways, new research shows.

The ingredient, diquat, is widely employed in the US as a weedkiller in vineyards and orchards, and is increasingly sprayed elsewhere as the use of controversial herbicide substances such as glyphosate and paraquat drops in the US.

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Australia news live: man shot dead by police in siege in Victorian town; boy dies after e-bike crash in Sydney

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Victoria police say they attempted to engage with armed man before ‘siege of several hours’. Follow the latest updates live

Smoke coming from Sydney tram causes to be suspended on Randwick line

Light rail services on the Randwick line have stopped due to smoke coming from the roof of a tram.

The man managed to get back into his car and drive a short distance before being overcome by his injuries.

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Streeting sets out digital overhaul of NHS centred on ‘doctor in your pocket’ app

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Health secretary banks on resulting efficiencies to reduce number of frontline workers in 10-year health plan

Wes Streeting has staked the future of the NHS on a digital overhaul in which a beefed-up NHS app and new hospital league tables are intended to give patients unprecedented control over their care.

A dramatic expansion of the role of the NHS app will result in fewer staff than expected by 2035, with Streeting banking on digital efficiencies to reduce the number of frontline workers, a move described as a “large bet” by health experts.

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Royal Prince Alfred hospital management pauses cuts across women and babies unit after protests

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Exclusive: One midwife said staff were ‘so relieved that the cuts had been paused’ and that they hoped a fair roster could be negotiated

Management at Royal Prince Alfred hospital (RPA) in Sydney will pause its cuts to staffing levels across its women and babies unit, just days after staff protested against the changes.

Dozens of midwives and other clinical staff held a snap rally on Tuesday outside RPA, one of the city’s major tertiary hospitals, claiming that management’s decision to reduce the number of midwives rostered on to the birthing unit risked the lives of mothers and babies.

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News live: Wong says Trump ‘keen’ for meeting with Albanese; Creative Australia apologises to Venice Biennale artists

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Power continues to be restored in NSW

About 5,800 customers remained without power at 7am Thursday, according to network operators Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy.

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Starmer outlines plan to shift NHS care from hospitals to new health centres

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Prime minister unveils 10-year health plan to ‘put care on people’s doorsteps’ and prevent illness in first place

The NHS will shift a huge amount of care from hospitals into new community health centres to bring treatment closer to people’s homes and cut waiting times, Keir Starmer will pledge on Thursday.

The prime minister will outline radical plans to give patients in England much easier access to GPs, scans and mental health support in facilities that are open 12 hours a day, six days a week.

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Will Labour’s 10-year health plan usher in a ‘new era’ for the NHS in England?

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Major health service reforms have had mixed results, and more emphasis on tech, community-based care and prevention has been tried before

Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting say the 10-year health plan will usher in a “new era for the NHS” in England. Their promised transformation will ensure it works in a more patient-friendly way and offers faster care, with health professionals providing a greater range of services in the same place and spotting illness earlier.

The “three big shifts” in the way the health service operates will involve it becoming more tech-based, moving significant amounts of care into community settings and giving greater priority to preventing illness rather than treating it.

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US to breed billions of flies and dump them out of aircraft in bid to fight flesh-eating maggot

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Program mirrors earlier successful mission to fight new world screwworm fly, whose larvae can infest living tissue

The US government is preparing to breed billions of flies and dump them out of airplanes over Mexico and southern Texas to fight a flesh-eating maggot.

That sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but it is part of the government’s plans for protecting the US from a bug that could devastate its beef industry, decimate wildlife and even kill household pets. This weird science has worked well before.

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Man in critical condition with lyssavirus after bat bite – as it happened

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NSW wild weather: ‘Conditions can become dangerous quickly’

Wild weather has brought down trees, damaged properties and flooded roads on the NSW coast, NSW SES says.

These incidents are a timely reminder that roads are slippery, and conditions can become dangerous quickly.

Please, never drive, walk or play in flood waters. If you do come across a flooded road, turn around and find an alternative route.

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Australia’s life expectancy gap narrows but men in disadvantaged areas dying almost seven years earlier

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Major causes of death contributing to inequality are lung cancer, respiratory illness and heart disease, ANU researchers say

Australia has made progress in reducing socioeconomic inequalities in life expectancy but men living in disadvantaged areas are still dying almost seven years earlier, a new report from the Australian National University has found.

The study’s lead author and ANU demographer, Sergey Timonin, said the gaps in life expectancy between the most advantaged and disadvantaged areas stopped widening just before the Covid pandemic began and did not significantly worsen during the lockdown years.

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Australia news live: some Central Coast residents told ‘evacuate now’ amid coastal erosion threat; children’s commissioner says child safety ‘not a priority in this country’

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NSW braces for damaging winds and heavy rain from coastal low. Follow the latest updates live

Gas market review will ‘drive efficiencies in the system’, King says

The resources minister, Madeleine King, says a review into gas market regulations will drive efficiencies into the system.

Our existing policy has made sure that that gas is available. So that’s that combination of existing policies brings in that extra 600 petajoules. So indeed, that work is already happening.

What we’re trying to do and will endeavour to do, and the industry is very supportive of, is to make that more coherent, and how we can make sure we learn from the whole system, reduce duplication in some of the regulation, some of the reporting factors, simply how we can make it work better for consumers, for industrial users, and for the Gas industry itself. And that drives efficiencies in the system, which we expect will help with pricing.

We were honest with the public from day one: the toll situation would get worse before it got better. That’s the reality of the infrastructure pipeline locked in by our predecessors.

And now, the most recent NSW Budget reflects that – with toll revenue projected to rise from $180m to $283m in the 2028–29 financial year.

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Women and babies could die due to midwife cuts at Sydney’s RPA hospital, staff warn

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Midwives’ union president warns women giving birth at one of the city’s largest hospitals will not receive a level of care considered safe

Midwives at one of Sydney’s largest hospitals have warned women and babies could die in light of cuts to the number of midwives staff deployed across the birth and delivery unit.

Hospital staff say 20 full-time equivalent roles have been removed from across the women and babies service at Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) hospital in Camperdown, including five from the midwifery group practice (MGP), effective from Tuesday.

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NHS will use AI in warning system to catch potential safety scandals early

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Patient safety measure is part of 10-year plan to tackle poor standards in mental health and maternity services

The NHS is to become the first health system in the world to use AI to analyse hospital databases and catch potential safety scandals early, the government has said.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the technology will provide an early warning system which could detect patterns or trends and trigger urgent inspections. The scheme is part of the 10-year plan for the NHS that is due to be published by Wes Streeting this week.

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NHS manager ordered to stop selling ‘sleep drug-laced’ children’s gummies

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Regulator tells Sally Westcott to pull product that allegedly has undeclared levels of prescription-only melatonin

An NHS manager has been stopped from selling children’s gummies allegedly laced with undeclared levels of a prescription-only sleeping drug, the Guardian can reveal.

Magnesium glycinate gummies for children who have trouble sleeping have been sold since March last year by Nutrition Ignition, an Epsom-based company owned by Sally Westcott, whose other job is a clinical therapy lead at Epsom and St Helier NHS trust.

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Superdrug to add 25 stores as demand for weight loss drugs soars

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Demand for beauty products by gen Alpha customer base also behind retailer’s expansion after tough times

An increase in demand for weight loss drugs, including Mounjaro and Wegovy, as well as demand among its generation Alpha customer base for beauty products is driving expansion at Superdrug.

The retailer plans to add 25 more stores to its 800-plus strong chain this year as well as extending existing outlets, despite troubles across the high street that have led to the closure of hundreds of stores at its rival Boots and downsizing at chains from Poundland to River Island.

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Australia news live: Minns’ team asked why premier focused on possibility of ‘terrorism’ in NSW caravan plot announcement

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The foreign minister, Penny Wong, is expected to join a meeting of her Quad counterparts in Washington DC next week.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said on Friday he would host foreign ministers from Australia, India and Japan on 1 July, with the meeting set to discuss geopolitical issues and China’s treatment of Indo-Pacific nations.

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