Monthly Archives: September 2011

Fingers crossed: the role of randomness in medical research funding

September 30, 2011 – 7:48 am

Anyone who has ever been involved in applying for academic or research grants knows how time consuming preparing the application can be. In this thought-provoking piece Nicolas Graves (QUT), Adrian Barnett (QUT) and Philip Clarke (Uni of Syd) speculate on whether those thousands of hours of highly-trained academics’ time could be put to better use than [...]

By Jennifer Doggett | Posted in health and medical research, NHMRC, The Conversation | Comments (1)

Affordability and access to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

September 29, 2011 – 12:29 pm

One of the first things Croakey learnt as a new, wet-behind-the-ears, political adviser was that there were only two things in Parliament House trusted by all sides of politics, the coffee at Aussies and the high quality of the research undertaken by the Parliamentary Library. Rebecca de Boer shows that nothing has changed since that [...]

By Jennifer Doggett | Posted in health financing and costs, health reform, pharmaceutical benefits scheme | Comments (3)

Pharmacies to push supplements as ‘fries and Coke’ to prescriptions

September 29, 2011 – 12:14 pm

Dr Ken Harvey, from La Trobe University, raises some concerns about the potential for adverse events arising from the Pharmacy Guild-Blackmores deal. This story originally appeared in The Conversation. Meanwhile, Croakey readers interested in Blackmore’s response to the widespread condemnation of the deal can read their media statement here. Pharmacists are among the most trusted professions in Australia, regularly coming in the [...]

By Jennifer Doggett | Posted in adverse events, complementary medicines, conflicts of interest, consumer health information, health & medical marketing, pharmacy, The Conversation | Comments (0)

Nothing complementary about Pharmacy Guild’s corporate deal

September 27, 2011 – 9:45 pm

The recent deal between the Pharmacy Guild and complementary medicine manufacturer Blackmores has raised the ire of both doctors and consumer groups. The Pharmacy Guild has signed a deal with Blackmores to include an automatic prompt for pharmacists dispensing specific medications to suggest that customers also purchase a particular Blackmore’s product targeting their condition. For [...]

By Jennifer Doggett | Posted in Australian Medical Association, complementary medicines, conflicts of interest, consumer health information, evidence-based issues, health & medical marketing, health ethics, pharmacy | Comments (3)

Upsizing prescriptions – has the Guild gone too far?

September 27, 2011 – 9:43 pm

Andrew Podger, now with the ANU, adds some clarity to the controversey over the Pharmacy Guild’s deal with Blackmores. The Crikey piece he refers to is only available to subscribers so I have posted it separately here. ‘The Pharmacy Guild’s deal with Blackmores is hopefully a monumental own goal. It offers the opportunity for the [...]

By Jennifer Doggett | Posted in complementary medicines, consumer health information, evidence-based issues, health & medical marketing, health ethics, pharmacy | Comments (0)

THE ROLE OF DOCTORS* IN HEALTH SERVICES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT:ALTRUISM, EXPERTISE AND LACK OF ENGAGEMENT AS PERCEPTUAL DISORDERS

September 26, 2011 – 3:04 pm

The following comes from Enrico Brik an anonymous self-employed consultant and sometime writer and blogger who has worked for over a decade in various roles in health services policy and planning. “The name and pretence of virtue is as to self-interest as are real vices.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld On 20 July 2011 Dr Steve [...]

By Jennifer Doggett | Posted in Australian Medical Association, health and medical education, health workforce, Hospitals | Comments (10)

Medicines Australia responds…

September 24, 2011 – 12:24 pm

Brendan Shaw, Chief Executive of Medicines Australia, has responded to yesterday’s post on disclosure of doctor payments by GSK. He writes…. Clearly there is an inexorable global trend towards greater transparency and Medicines Australia embraces that shift. The current edition of the Medicines Australia Code of Conduct adopted several provisions to increase transparency, and the [...]

By Jennifer Doggett | Posted in conflicts of interest, pharmaceutical industry | Comments (0)

Time for Pharma industry to commit to doctor payment disclosures

September 23, 2011 – 8:27 am

Deborah Waterhouse, General Manager of GlaxoSmithKline Australia, turns up the heat on her rival pharma companies, challenging them to follow the lead of GSK in disclosing any payments they make to doctors.  She writes… Three months ago GSK became the first pharmaceutical company in Australia to disclose the aggregate amount of fees paid to Australian [...]

By Jennifer Doggett | Posted in adverse events, conflicts of interest, health ethics, pharmaceutical industry | Comments (0)

What makes the Heart Foundation tick?

September 22, 2011 – 8:31 am

The Heart Foundation copped some robust criticism from public health advocates (including Croakey regular Professor Mike Daube) when it allowed take-away food outlets such as McDonald’s to participate in its licensed ‘Tick’ program. Now the Foundation has decided to stop extending the program to fast food outlets and instead focus on other ways to improve [...]

By Jennifer Doggett | Posted in cardiovascular disease, consumer health information, public health | Comments (1)

Advanced Health Research Centres – what can they offer Australia?

September 21, 2011 – 3:57 pm

Croakey strongly believes that the best health care occurs when it is informed by rigorous research and that the best research is that which is informed by clinical practice.  However, bringing these two often disparate worlds together is  a continual challenge in the Australian health care environment. A new proposal, modelled on a successful UK [...]

By Jennifer Doggett | Posted in education, health and medical education, health and medical research, health financing and costs, health workforce, Hospitals, medical education, NHMRC, primary health care, The Conversation | Comments (0)