Category Archives: health regulation

Introducing a new watchdog for alcohol marketing

March 19, 2012 – 10:41 am

Relying on the alcohol industry to regulate alcohol marketing does not work. It’s time for a new approach, writes Rebecca Johnson, policy advisor with Cancer Council Western Australia. She invites Croakey readers to contribute to the Alcohol Advertising Review Board (AARB), which was launched last week. *** Alcohol marketers now face scrutiny by an independent [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in alcohol, health & medical marketing, public health, Youth health | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Is the TGA out to lunch? Ken Harvey on the weight loss pill that lets you “have the cake without the calories”

February 23, 2012 – 8:48 pm

The Therapeutic Goods Administration’s response to concerns about the marketing of a weight-loss pill, which lets you “have the cake without the calories”, suggests that the many reviews and promises of reform have not resulted in real change at the much-critiqued organisation, according to Dr Ken Harvey, Adjunct Assoc Prof of Public Health at La Trobe University. [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in complementary medicines, health & medical marketing, TGA | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

A call for regulatory action on unregistered health practitioners

January 24, 2012 – 7:52 pm

An ACCC investigation into breast imaging highlights broader concerns about a lack of regulation of unregistered health practitioners, writes Rebecca Johnson, Policy Advisor, Cancer Council Western Australia. *** Why are health regulators leaving the heavy lifting to the ACCC? Rebecca Johnson writes: Early in January, the ACCC launched legal proceedings  against two commercial breast imaging [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in cancer, health & medical marketing, public health, quality and safety of health care, screening | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Beyond band-aids: Medicare needs structural reform

January 19, 2012 – 3:46 pm

The crew at The Medical Journal of Australia must be feeling rather pleased this week by the publicity and debate generated via this week’s edition, particularly the articles on Medicare by Dr Tony Webber and on corporatisation of medicine by Ray Moynihan. Below is some wider commentary, reproduced from The Conversation, with articles from: • [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in Australian Medical Association, dental care, general practice, health reform, health workforce, Journal articles, primary health care, The Conversation | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)

A new Croakey project: Naked Doctor, profiling overdiagnosis and overtreatment

January 16, 2012 – 4:45 pm

Up to $3 billion of public money is wasted each year under Medicare, according to estimates by Dr Tony Webber, who headed the Professional Services Review for more than six years. His article in today’s Medical Journal of Australia – which has drawn widespread media coverage – argues that poor policy (such as the Medicare [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in health reform, health workforce, Journal articles, Naked Doctor | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (15)

Physician assistants win support of rural/remote doctors – and a report from the coalface

November 15, 2011 – 10:13 am

Regular readers will know of Croakey’s interest in the potential for physician assistants (PAs) to help improve access to health care in rural, remote and other under-served areas. The Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) recently endorsed a policy statement giving strong support to the potential of PAs “to extend the reach of [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in health workforce, rural and remote health, surgery | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

A wrap of recent health news at Croakey

October 5, 2011 – 5:40 pm

Hola – I am back on deck. A large thanks to Jennifer Doggett for driving Croakey while I was away, and to Ben Harris-Roxas for looking after the Twitter feed. As previously mentioned, Croakey readers are welcome to sign up for (rather irregular) summaries of posts. If you’d like to join the mailing list, please [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in aged care, alcohol, cancer, chronic diseases, climate change, Cochrane Collaboration, complementary medicines, Croakey Register of Influencers in Public Health, diabetes, disabilities, evidence-based issues, 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, obesity, pharmacy, prevention, primary health care, private health insurance, public health, quality and safety of health care, rural and remote health, social determinants of health, The Conversation, Uncategorized | Comments (2)

A new guide to effective risk communication, one of the “greatest challenges” in public health

August 20, 2011 – 2:38 pm

(Apologies readers for glitches with punctuation; there is a gremlin at play in the system) Risk communication is one of the greatest challenges facing any public health agency; done badly it can cost lives, money, and reputations. That’s according to a new guide released by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and US Department of [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in cancer, consumer health information, evidence-based issues, health literacy, Media-related issues, quality and safety of health care, TGA | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

Concerns raised about lack of regulation of the health workforce

August 14, 2011 – 3:30 am

Jon Wardle writes: On August 5 the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council (AHWMC) met in Darwin and suggested that, as they had commissioned work on unregistered professions and future directions for national registration, they would defer the consideration of other profession into the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS). Ministers then agreed that it would [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in complementary medicines, health reform, health workforce | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)

The latest health & medical reading from The Conversation

July 29, 2011 – 4:03 pm

Thanks to Froncesca Jackson-Webb, for providing this update of the latest health and medical reading at The Conversation. From scraping by to pizza and pie: how protein price drives obesity By Rob Brooks, Professor of Evolutionary Ecology; Director, Evolution & Ecology Research Centre at the University of NSW For the first time ever, the number [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in child health, complementary medicines, Food, global health, Government 2.0, Health inequalities, mental health, physical activity, TGA, The Conversation | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)