Category Archives: Health

State disability ministers threaten Butler with boycott over two-minute speaking limit at NDIS meeting

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Ministers say they will reconsider their attendance at the meeting if they get at least 10 minutes each

State and territory disability ministers have threatened to boycott an upcoming NDIS meeting with the Albanese government after being given just two minutes to contribute to discussions.

In a joint letter from all jurisdictions sent on Thursday to the health and disability minister, Mark Butler, and the NDIS minister, Jenny McAllister, ministers warned they were “no longer able to confirm” their attendance at the meeting next Friday unless given the opportunity to “meaningfully contribute”.

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Woman who overturned Queensland’s puberty blocker ban ‘not backing away from the fight’ after LNP reinstates it

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Exclusive: Parent who successfully challenged previous ban on children being prescribed hormones for gender dysphoria considers new lawsuit

The mother of a transgender child who successfully sued to overturn Queensland’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments for children with gender dysphoria says she is “not backing away from the fight” after the government reinstated the ban hours after her supreme court victory.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is considering launching another lawsuit to overturn the health minister’s decision on Tuesday evening to issue a new order preventing patients under 18 and not already on a treatment plan from accessing the drugs in the public system.

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NHS makes morning-after pill available for free across pharmacies in England

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Those in need of free emergency contraception no longer have to see their GP or attend a sexual health clinic

The NHS has made the morning-after pill available for free across pharmacies in England in an effort to reduce a “postcode lottery” of access to emergency contraception.

Almost 10,000 pharmacies are now able to offer the pill without charge, saving those in need of free emergency contraception from having to visit their GP or to get an appointment at a sexual health clinic.

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Queensland puberty blocker ban reinstated by health minister hours after supreme court overturned it

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Move comes after parent successfully challenged LNP’s previous ban on new patients under 18 accessing hormone treatments for gender dysphoria

The Queensland health minister has issued a new order banning the prescription of puberty blockers for transgender patients, just hours after the state’s supreme court ruled the government’s first attempt was unlawful.

On Tuesday, Justice Peter Callaghan ruled in favour of a challenge by the parent of a transgender child, judging that the January directive establishing the ban was made improperly and was unlawful.

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Woman arrested after allegedly sabotaging gas supplies at two Sydney hospitals

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NSW police allege 42-year-old ‘cut water and gas mains’ at first hospital in Sutherland before switching off gas mains at nearby facility

A woman has been arrested after allegedly sabotaging gas supplies at two Sydney hospitals.

Sutherland hospital in southern Sydney lost medical gases on Tuesday morning, requiring them to switch to portable oxygen and air as part of their contingency plans, the New South Wales health minister, Ryan Park, said in a statement

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Picture of health: going to art galleries can improve wellbeing, study reveals

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Viewing original works of art can relieve stress, cut heart disease risk and boost immune system, first study of its kind finds

Enjoying original works of art in a gallery can relieve stress, reduce the risk of heart disease and boost your immune system, according to the first study of its kind.

Researchers measured the physiological responses of participants while viewing masterpieces by world-renowned artists including Manet, Van Gogh and Gauguin in a gallery.

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Racist incidents against UK nurses surge by 55%

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Royal College of Nursing calls on government to stop using anti-migrant rhetoric, which it says emboldens racist behaviour

The number of reports by nurses of racist incidents at work has risen by 55% over three years, according to analysis by the nursing union.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) expects to receive more than 1,000 calls this year from nurses seeking advice and support after racist incidents in the workplace, compared with almost 700 cases in 2022.

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Over 1,200 health leaders call for swift passage of UK tobacco and vapes bill

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Experts publish letter as peers prepare to scrutinise draft legislation six months after its second Commons reading

More than 1,200 public health leaders have called for the tobacco and vapes bill to be passed swiftly through parliament to “protect future generations”.

They said in a cross-party letter that the “gamechanging” measures outlined were “far too important to let it slip off the agenda”.

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NHS leaders warn of longer waiting times if demand for extra £3bn not met

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Key Labour pledge under threat as health service faces costs from redundancies, strikes and rising drug prices

NHS bosses are seeking an emergency injection of £3bn to cover unexpected costs and have warned ministers that without it patients will wait longer for treatment and hospitals will start rationing care.

Their move presents a fresh problem for Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, as she tries to find ways to fill an estimated £30bn hole in the nation’s finances in her budget next month.

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Homemade chilli paste products linked to cluster of rat poisoning cases in south-east Queensland

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Queensland Health has issued an alert for people to be aware of the products they warn could still be circulating in the Logan community

Health authorities have identified homemade chilli paste products as the source of a cluster of rat poisoning cases in south-east Queensland.

Five people from the same geographic area presented to hospitals earlier in October with symptoms consistent with being exposed to brodifacoum, the active ingredient in rat poison.

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Surgeons remove up to 100 magnets from New Zealand teenager’s intestines

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Boy, 13, swallowed the high-power magnets after apparently buying them from the online retailer Temu

A 13-year-old boy in New Zealand swallowed up to 100 high-power magnets he bought online, forcing surgeons to remove tissue from his intestines, doctors said on Friday.

After suffering four days of abdominal pain, the unnamed teenager was taken to Tauranga hospital in the North Island. “He disclosed ingesting approximately 80 to 100 5x2mm high-power (neodymium) magnets about one week prior,” said a report by hospital doctors in the New Zealand Medical Journal.

This article’s byline was amended on 25 October 2025 to correct the news agency it was attributed to. An earlier version incorrectly attributed it to Associated Foreign Press; however the correct agency was Agence France-Presse.

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Two dead at Melbourne beach as wild wind batters state, while parts of Sydney hit by record-breaking heat

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Sydney’s Observatory Hill peaks at 37C on Wednesday – below the 39C forecast – as the mercury in other parts of the city neared 40C

Two men have died after being pulled from the water at a Victorian beach amid wild weather in the state.

On Wednesday evening, Victoria police confirmed two men were found unresponsive in the water at Frankston beach, on the Mornington Peninsula, just after 5pm. The men, who are yet to be identified, could not be revived.

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Protective immune cells in breastfeeding women identified as guard against breast cancer, new research finds

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Patients who had more cells had better outcomes, particularly for aggressive types such as triple-negative breast cancer

In the 18th century, physicians noticed nuns had some of the highest rates of breast cancer. It was one of the earliest clues that led scientists to suspect that child-bearing and breastfeeding could protect against the disease.

Modern data has confirmed the centuries-old observation but the biological reasons behind it have remained unclear. Explanations have often focused on pregnancy-related hormonal changes, but research published Tuesday in Nature has found breastfeeding provides long-lasting immune protection.

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Smart jab can shrink head and neck cancer tumours within six weeks, trial finds

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Triple-action therapy drug amivantamab could be given as an injection to help treat recurrent or metastatic cancers

Doctors have hailed “incredibly encouraging” trial results that show a triple-action smart jab can shrink tumours in head and neck cancer patients within six weeks.

Head and neck cancer is the world’s sixth most common form of the disease. If it spreads or comes back after standard treatment, patients may be offered immunotherapy and platinum chemotherapy. But if this fails, there is often little else doctors can do.

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Top Bupa staff awarded $14m in bonuses despite insurer admitting to misleading thousands of Australians

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Exclusive: Mandatory company disclosures show one bonus amounted to $2.5m, more than double their annual salary

More than $14m in bonuses was awarded to senior Australian health insurance staff at Bupa little more than a year before the company admitted to unconscionably causing customers to cancel or delay medical procedures.

The bonuses, for more than 20 staff in 2023-24, came after the insurer had engaged in “misleading and deceptive conduct” between May 2018 and August 2023. This affected more than 7,500 customers, leaving many out of pocket for procedures they were entitled to claim.

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Chemical linked to low sperm count, obesity and cancer found in dummies, tests find

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BPA, a synthetic chemical used in production of plastics, found in baby products made by three big European brands

A chemical linked to impaired sexual development, obesity and cancer has been found in baby dummies manufactured by three big European brands.

Dummies made by the Dutch multinational Philips, the Swiss oral health specialists Curaprox and the French toy brand Sophie la Girafe were found to contain bisphenol A (BPA), according to laboratory testing by dTest, a Czech consumer organisation. Philips said they had carried out subsequent testing and found no BPA, while Sophie la Girafe said the amount found was insignificant.

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US anti-vax stance to blame for continent-wide surge in measles, say experts

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The disease was eliminated across the Americas in 2024, but urgent vaccination drives are now under way as cases rise from Mexico to Bolivia after outbreaks farther north

Governments across Latin America are stepping up efforts to vaccinate their populations against measles, as outbreaks in North America drive a 34-fold increase in the number of cases reported in the region this year.

Measles cases have surged worldwide to a 25-year high, due to low vaccine coverage and the spread of misinformation about vaccine safety. However, there is added concern in parts of Latin America over unequal access to healthcare and the worrying situation in the US, which is facing its worst measles outbreak in decades following a reversal of vaccine policy led by Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.

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Australia news live: Ley challenges Albanese over Trump meeting; storm warning for Sydney

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The Liberal leader says the prime minister must extract ‘concrete’ results on Aukus and trade. Follow today’s news live

Hume: Ley describing Melbourne as Australia’s ‘crime capital’ just ‘explaining what every Victorian already knows’

The federal Liberal senator for Victoria, Jane Hume, was on ABC Radio National a short time ago speaking about crime in the state.

Sussan and the shadow ministry team are putting together our policy agenda as we speak. It is only five months since the last election, but I don’t agree that there is nothing that a federal government cannot do. In fact, there are plenty of things that a federal government can get involved in to help states tackle crime, whether it be working for consistent bail laws across the country.

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Australians took more than $1.4bn from their super last year for everything from weight loss to dental work

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Watchdog says some business and practitioners are taking advantage of the compassionate release of superannuation process

Australians withdrew more than $1.4bn from their superannuation accounts for compassionate reasons in the last financial year, with much of that used to fund medical procedures ranging from dental work to weight loss treatments.

Of the 112,400 applications in 2024-25 for compassionate super access, 93,500 were made on medical grounds, up from 71,900 the year prior. There was a particularly sharp rise in applications to use superannuation to fund dental services, with the number doubling in two years to 32,875 requests.

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PPE firm linked to Michelle Mone misses deadline to repay £122m

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Firm was ordered by high court to return sum paid by DHSC for unusable surgical gowns by 4pm on Wednesday

A company linked to the former Conservative peer Michelle Mone has failed to pay the government any of the £122m ordered by a high court judgment for supplying unusable personal protective equipment during the Covid pandemic.

Mrs Justice Cockerill ruled that PPE Medpro must, by a deadline of 4pm on 15 October, return the money it was paid by the Department of Health and Social Care for 25m sterile surgical gowns under a contract awarded in June 2020.

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