Category Archives: Health

Thousands of patients facing healthcare price hikes after negotiations break down between St Vincent’s and NIB

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Australian Medical Association is urging both parties to reach an agreement for the sake of patients

Thousands of patients could face higher out-of-pocket healthcare costs after negotiations broke down between St Vincent’s private hospital network and the private health fund, NIB, for a new funding agreement.

On Thursday, St Vincent’s Health Australia gave notice to NIB that it will walk away from its contract within the next 65 business days unless a fairer funding agreement is reached.

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Senator says PM’s office planted seed about crossing floor – as it happened

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Josh Burns says Labor motion to recognise Palestine as part of the peace process is ‘the bare minimum’

Josh Burns finished with:

This motion before the House is the bare minimum. It says that we support the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a peace process. That peace process is something that I hold onto and that I have held onto my entire life.

That peace process says that we are all people, above all, and that there has to be a way through this. There has to be a way through this conflict. I wish that we could pull a lever here in Australia and it would all end today, but we have seen time and time again that that is not the case.

There are so many intractable parts of this conflict. I have a degree in this conflict, and I still don’t quite know how to fix it.

I know that there are players who are desperate to end the peace process and to try and disturb any efforts towards peace. I know that trees take years and years and years to grow and can be cut down in a second, and that is what the Middle East has demonstrated over and over again.

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NHS leader calls for partnership with private sector to build new hospitals

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Exclusive: NHS Providers head says joining with private health firms and developers would help care backlog

The NHS must be given the green light to partner with private health firms and property developers to build new hospitals to slash the care backlog, a health service boss has said.

The last Labour government was widely criticised over controversial private finance initiative (PFI) deals to erect scores of new NHS facilities that led to vast profits for major corporations.

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Pippa White would ‘almost certainly’ have survived had she been given antibiotics in time, NSW inquest hears

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Two-year-old’s sepsis death would likely have been prevented if necessary treatment had occurred 12-18 hours earlier, doctor tells coronial inquest

A senior doctor at the regional New South Wales hospital where a two-year-old girl died of septic shock says he would have activated the sepsis treatment pathway six hours earlier had he known her condition was deteriorating, an inquest has heard.

Prof Adam Buckmaster said Pippa Mae White may still have died because she already had “overwhelming sepsis”, although she “almost certainly” would have survived had she been treated with antibiotics 12 or 18 hours earlier.

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Mass purge of frozen sperm donations ordered as Queensland audit exposes misidentification risk

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Health ombudsman says ‘thousands’ of sperm samples at fertility clinics are at risk of potentially devastating identification mix-ups

Queensland’s health ombudsman has ordered the destruction of thousands of frozen sperm donations, as a new report reveals 42% of all audited samples in the state were of medium or high risk of being misidentified.

The state had more than twice as many potential errors identified in audits as the next worst state, Victoria.

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Australia politics live: Labor caucus endorses Payman suspension; Watt says no plan to ban live cattle exports

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PM calls for ‘a long-term solution in a peace process’ between Israel and Palestine. Follow today’s news headlines live

Shorten says he thinks Labor party is trying to give Senator Payman ‘space and time’

Bill Shorten continues:

I see why people feel so strongly. They can feel so strongly about the hostage is not being returned, or the deaths in Gaza. People could feel also very strongly about the near million deaths in Sudan.

I can get these very incredibly strong issues. And if you come from particular communities, they’re even more intense, although that doesn’t need to be the prerequisite.

Before I deny something, what’s your source?

No, I don’t believe that.

… Because I wasn’t there and I don’t believe it. I actually think the prime minister, Senator Wong and the leadership are handling a complicated issue pretty well.

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Risk of serious injury as strangling during sex becomes normalised among young Australians

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Sexual violence experts concerned about health risks and lack of consent after survey shows almost 60% of respondents under 35 had been choked at least once

Strangling a partner during sex is widely perceived as normal especially among young people, with more than half of adults aged 35 and under reporting they have been strangled, many of them unaware of potentially serious health consequences.

It is a finding that has sexual violence experts so concerned that they launched the “Breathless” campaign and website on Tuesday to highlight that strangulation – often referred to as “choking” – is unsafe, and often occurs with no or inadequate communication or consent.

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Patients left in pain and to die alone amid NHS nurse shortages, survey finds

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Only a third of shifts have enough nurses on duty, the Royal College of Nursing says its analysis shows

NHS patients are being left unseen in pain and in some cases to die alone because shifts do not have enough registered nurses, a survey shows.

The Royal College of Nursing said analysis of a survey it carried out showed that only a third of shifts had enough registered nurses on duty.

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Toxic PFAS absorbed through skin at levels higher than previously thought

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Absorption through skin could be ‘significant source of exposure’ to toxic forever chemicals, study shows

New research “for the first time proves” toxic PFAS forever chemicals are absorbed through human skin, and at levels much higher than previously thought.

Though modeling and research has suggested the dangerous chemicals are absorbed through skin, University of Birmingham researchers say they used lab-grown tissue that mimics human skin to determine how much of a dose of PFAS compounds can be absorbed.

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Britons seeking medical treatments overseas ‘should beware low prices’

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Experts warn ‘health tourists’ to do their research, saying savings can lead to higher costs for work to be redone

Patients seeking medical treatments in Turkey and other countries should do their research and not be tempted by low prices, experts have warned.

From Brazilian butt lifts to Hollywood smiles and even organ transplants, the range of procedures offered by overseas providers is staggering, with myriad companies now promoting packages covering flights, accommodation and post-operative hotel accommodation.

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Mushroom gummies: powerful cannabis product could have caused ‘disturbing hallucinations’ and hospitalisations

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The recall of Uncle Frog’s Mushroom Gummies has sparked concerns that the product contains psychoactive cannabinoids

A cannabis product could be to blame for more than six people being hospitalised with symptoms including seizure-like twitching, vomiting and hallucinations after consuming gummies marketed as containing mushrooms, according to experts.

The Cordyceps and Lion’s Mane flavours of Uncle Frog’s Mushroom Gummies were recalled this week by Food Standards Australia New Zealand after reports of hospitalisations in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.

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Tobacco giant accused of ‘manipulating science’ to attract non-smokers

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Leaked documents from Philip Morris reveal ‘secret’ strategy to market its heated tobacco product IQOS

The tobacco company Philip Morris International has been accused of “manipulating science for profit” through funding research and advocacy work with scientists.

Campaigners say that leaked documents from PMI and its Japanese affiliate also reveal plans to target politicians, doctors and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as part of the multinational’s marketing strategy to attract non-smokers to its heated tobacco product, IQOS.

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Michigan leading US on monitoring and studying bird flu outbreak

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Daily text messages and phone calls check on farm workers who work with cows that have tested positive for H5N1

As questions swirl about the spread of bird flu among livestock and people, one US state – Michigan – has taken the lead on monitoring and studying the outbreak.

Other states have seemed wary of tracking cases among animals and people, but Michigan has taken a proactive approach, with daily text messages and phone calls to check on farm workers who work with cows that have tested positive for H5N1. They also have offered free tests if symptoms develop.

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Fatima Payman admits she ‘upset a few colleagues’ by crossing the floor – as it happened

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Housing minister Julie Collins is speaking to the ABC RN about Labor’s build-to-rent bill which was knocked back in the Senate yesterday, with the Greens and the Coalition combining to delay it:

What we want to do is get this done. We’ve already been consulting, we announced it in the previous budget. Any delays will actually stop the pipeline of construction and the certainty for the sector.

What we want to do is get more affordable homes and more homes of every type on the ground as quickly as we can.

We’re saying they have to have a minimum of 10% to be eligible for the tax concessions that we’re talking about for each development.

That’s what our consultations and our discussions with the sector have done and, as I said, this is not the only thing we’re doing for affordable homes … My point here is that they continually delay and block housing up every time by coming together and having this unholy alliance between the Liberals and the Greens in the Senate, because they’re more interested in votes than they are about people.

We’re not open to negotiation and we want to get this done.

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More than 130 patients in NSW died through voluntary assisted dying in program’s first three months

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Between the state legalising VAD in November 2023 and February 2024, 517 patients made requests to access it, official report shows

More than 130 patients have died through New South Wales’s voluntary assisted dying program in the first three months since it was legalised.

NSW became the last state in Australia to legalise voluntary assisted dying when new legislation came into effect in November.

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Egyptian scribes suffered work-related injuries, study says

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Higher incidence of damage to hips, jaws and thumbs reveals their writing efforts may have taken a toll

From bad backs to eye strain, office work can take its toll on the body.

But it seems such perils are nothing new: researchers have found Egyptian scribes experienced damage to their hips, jaws and thumbs as a result of their efforts.

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Labor-led committee raises human rights concerns over NDIS bill as Shorten blasts delays

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Minister says more consultation with states would be a ‘circle-jerk’ after Coalition and Greens team up to delay vote on NDIS reforms until late August

A Labor-chaired parliamentary committee has flagged human rights concerns with the Albanese government’s proposed changes to the national disability insurance scheme, warning some aspects may not be “sufficiently flexible” and others not in line with international human rights law.

The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, used a press conference on Thursday evening to attack the opposition and the Greens after the unlikely alliance teamed up to send the NDIS reform bill back to a committee until early August.

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Cost of toothpaste can double through the year in UK, study finds

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Research discovers the cost of some healthcare products fluctuates wildly, according to time of year you buy them

Dentists agree that brushing twice a day is the best way to look after your teeth. But depending on what month it is, dental hygiene can be a dramatically more expensive habit to maintain.

New research has shown that the cost of a tube of toothpaste at some times of the year can be double its price at other times. The price of other popular health products such as Gillette razors can also double depending when they are bought.

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One in four healthy people over 60 in UK ‘have undiagnosed heart valve disease’

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Researchers say in most cases condition is mild but it can increase risk of heart attacks and strokes

One in four healthy people aged 60 and over in the UK have undiagnosed heart valve disease, research suggests.

The conditions develops when one or more of the heart valves do not work properly. The main problems are caused by the valves either not opening fully or not closing correctly.

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Warnings over lethal and contagious strain of mpox as children in DRC die

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Alarm over high mortality and miscarriage rates as mutated virus spreads in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

A dangerous strain of mpox that is killing children and causing miscarriages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most transmissible yet and could spread internationally, scientists have warned.

The virus appears to be spreading from person to person via both sexual and non-sexual contact, in places ranging from brothels to schools.

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