Crikey journalist Amber Jamieson recently reported that the National Health and Medical Research Council is examining whether anti-wind farm campaigner Sarah Laurie has breached ethical codes of research conduct. The NHMRC and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency were recently sent a dossier raising questions about the work of Laurie, CEO of the Waubra Foundation [...]
READ MOREAs the NT targets “problem drinkers”, it seems government policy may be the real problem
The NT Government recently announced that “problem drinkers” in Katherine, Darwin, Alice Springs and Gove will be subject to mandatory treatment as part of a new policy starting in July. It expects up to 800 people will be required to undergo treatment. According to this statement, ”problem drinkers” placed in protective custody three times in two [...]
READ MOREAnother challenge to the mouse model
Many thanks to Monika Merkes PhD, Honorary Associate, Australian Institute for Primary Care & Ageing, La Trobe University for the following update on the issue of animal research. Dr Merkes writes: A team of medical researchers has recently issued another challenge to the still widely held view that animal research benefits humans. Dr Junhee Seok, together with 38 [...]
READ MOREWhat is the evidence on involuntary treatment for people with schizophrenia?
Are our policies and laws leading to treatment delays for people with schizophrenia? It seems so, suggests a review of the evidence around involuntary treatment orders, conducted by the Deeble Institute for Health Policy Research and Schizophrenia Research Institute. *** Time for a rethink around involuntary treatment for people with schizophrenia Dr Anne-marie Boxall writes: [...]
READ MOREDo we need to change our expectations around the “chemical stockpile” of modern sport?
Given the unending stream of revelations about the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport, is it time to rethink the merits of the ban on doping? Paul Smith, political editor for Australian Doctor magazine, investigates some of the scientific and ethical issues behind the recent horrified headlines. *** If sport can’t clean up its [...]
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A terrible loss. Vale Gavin Mooney and Delys Weston
Such terrible, devastating news. Health economist Professor Gavin Mooney and his partner Delys Weston have been murdered in Tasmania (more details here from ABC and AAP). Gavin will be known to regular Croakey readers as a prolific contributor since this blog’s start. Delys had recently completed her PhD in the political economy of global warming. Gavin [...]
READ MOREDo hospital clinicians have too much power?
The distribution of power within the health system has a profound impact upon how the funding cake is divided and to what effect. In the article below, health economist Professor Gavin Mooney suggests that hospital clinicians – and particularly some types of hospital clinicians – wield too much power. He asks: how can we get a [...]
READ MOREComplexity and consent: the ethics of researching youth
Kitty Te Riele, Principal Research Fellow at Victoria University writes: Ethics by their very nature are tricky – if the morally right thing to do was clear-cut, we wouldn’t need to have ethical deliberations. Perhaps one of the most enduring ethical dilemmas is around questions of how researchers work with teenagers and children. Working with [...]
READ MOREThe growing concern about medical over-diagnosis
While cures for deadly diseases can be attributed to advances in technology, the flip side is that we can now detect abnormalities or anomalies that may ultimately do no harm. What’s more, changing disease definitions and expanded screening are creating a sense of anxiety among people who are not necessarily unwell. The Conversation recently ran [...]
READ MOREWhat have the tobacco and pharma industries got in common?
The tragicomic potential of this scenario makes it sound like a scriptwriter’s dream. There’s the pharma marketing exec pondering how to maximise the market for the company’s smoking cessation products. And then there’s the tobacco chief strategising a “mutually beneficial” alliance with a company that profits from helping smokers to quit. Now for the reality… [...]
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