Category Archives: health ethics

Why won’t the Federal Government support a no fault compo scheme for vaccine-related injuries?

March 29, 2012 – 11:42 am

The Federal Government needs to do a much better job of explaining the reasons for its reluctance to introduce a no fault compensation scheme for vaccine-related injuries, according to Associate Professor Heath Kelly.  To date, the responses to calls for such a scheme have not been helpful, he suggests. *** Why won’t the Government support [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in adverse events, legal issues, vaccination | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

The latest wrap of health & medical reading from The Conversation

March 6, 2012 – 11:52 am

Thanks to Fron Jackson-Webb for providing this latest wrap of reading from The Conversation. It includes articles about bioethics, pharmaceutical industry payments to doctors, the history of forced adoption, gene patenting, advances in tobacco control, debates in suicide prevention, and the financing of dental care. *** There’s no good argument for infanticide By Andrew McGee, [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in child health, dental care, pharmaceutical industry, tobacco control | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

What many patients want to know, but many doctors don’t want to tell

February 10, 2012 – 4:57 pm

Here is an interesting juxtaposition of two sets of research findings about doctors’ disclosures of their financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies… In the US, a survey of almost 2,000 doctors found nearly two-fifths did not completely agree they should disclose their financial relationships with drug and device companies to patients. The survey, by researchers from [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in consumer health information, pharmaceutical industry, quality and safety of health care | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Should pharma industry fines be used in good works that create positive industry PR?

December 15, 2011 – 10:13 am

Andrew Roberts – who is better known to friends, patients, colleagues and Twitter followers as Robbo – is a pharmacist in a remote WA community. Below is an article cross-posted from his blog, Biting the Dust, in which he raises concerns about the source of funds for a dialysis truck that is providing a much-needed [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in chronic diseases, diabetes, Indigenous health, pharmaceutical industry, pharmacy, rural and remote health | Tagged , , , , | 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 | Also posted in Australian Medical Association, complementary medicines, conflicts of interest, consumer health information, evidence-based issues, health & medical marketing, 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 | Also posted in complementary medicines, consumer health information, evidence-based issues, health & medical marketing, pharmacy | 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 | Also posted in adverse events, conflicts of interest, pharmaceutical industry | Comments (0)

An invitation and a note of explanation to Croakey readers

July 12, 2011 – 1:02 pm

If you have read the funding arrangements for Croakey, you will understand that editing this blog is, by necessity, very much a part-time activity for me. I am usually writing and editing articles in haste around multiple other commitments. Often I am wanting to alert readers to new reports/research etc that may be of interest, [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in abortion, alcohol, cancer, chronic diseases, climate change, Cochrane Collaboration, complementary medicines, conflicts of interest, e-health, environmental health, evidence-based issues, Food, gambling, general practice, global health, Government 2.0, health and medical education, health and medical research, health financing and costs, Health inequalities, health reform, health workforce, Indigenous health, Journal articles, Media Doctor Australia, Media-related issues, Medicare Locals, mental health, Nanny state, palliative care, pharmaceutical industry, physical activity, plain packaging, primary health care, private health insurance, public health, rural and remote health, SensaSlim, social determinants of health, TGA, The Conversation, tobacco control, Uncategorized, vaccination, vaccines, Web 2.0, weight loss products | Comments (0)

The latest health and medical news from The Conversation

June 28, 2011 – 10:40 am

Continuing a series of regular updates of health and medical reading at The Conversation… Thanks to Reema Rattan for providing this summary. *** SensaSlim and me: how criticism of a weight-loss spray landed me in court By Ken Harvey, Adjunct Senior Lecturer of Public Health at La Trobe University On March 18, 2011, I submitted my first [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in complementary medicines, genetics, health & medical marketing, Indigenous health, legal issues, obesity, public health, TGA, The Conversation, tobacco control | Comments (1)

Disclosure of million-dollar pharma payments to health professionals: will it help?

June 6, 2011 – 7:23 pm

As recently reported at Croakey, the Australian arm of the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is moving to be more transparent about how much it pays health care professionals. Today it disclosed the aggregate amount of fees paid to Australian health care professionals and health-related organisations for all sponsorships, grants, speaking engagements and consulting services during [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in conflicts of interest, evidence-based issues, health & medical marketing, health and medical research, pharmaceutical industry | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)