The PM made a big deal about the need to ensure treatments are evaluated and backed by good evidence in this widely-reported speech at St Vincent’s Institute for Medical Research in Melbourne last Friday.
He said: “ Patients need treatments, technologies, and procedures for which there is evidence from research that these are safe and effective. [...]
Ray Moynihan wrote this Crikey piece about two new trials, published in the latest New England Journal of Medicine, that raise serious questions about the ongoing use of a controversial procedure called vertebroplasty, where bone cement is injected into a person’s vertebrae to try and fix painful spinal fractures.
Writing from Washington, health policy analyst Dr [...]
Finally, I’ve had a chance to read the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report from cover to cover. Here are a few of its recommendations that I thought worth mentioning that haven’t had much press or discussion yet.
• There should be a common national approach to evaluating all health interventions, with consistent evaluation of [...]
Moves are afoot to tighten regulation of the complementary health sector. University of Queensland researcher Jon Wardle examines why this is particularly important for the many Australians who attend naturopaths:
This week the Steering Committee for the Australian Register of Naturopaths and Herbalists has formally called for submissions as part of its process to set up [...]
For all the talk about patient-centred care, the reality is that patients’ needs and values are often very far from the centre of decisions in health – whether they be decisions related to clinical care, policy or how health funds are spent.
This New York Times article, Letting the Patient Call the Shots, has a few [...]
The obstetricians are out in full force, suggesting that mooted changes to the Safety Net will “punish women and their families because they chose to seek help with their pregnancy and births from doctors in the private sector rather than the overwhelmed public hospitals system”.
Really?
For another perspective, have a read of this Crikey article in [...]
A pharmacy researcher who wishes to remain anonymous has sent in this comment regarding the funding deal between the Baker and Sanofi Aventis (for more background info, see here, and here and here):
“Agreements between not for profit research institutes and the pharmaceutical industry can be fraught with conflict, even if an iron clad contract is [...]
In the lead-up to the budget, Croakey has asked an assortment of public health and health policy types about their wishes and expectations.
Michael Moore, CEO, Public Health Association of Australia
In the initial budget for this government was a huge effort on hospital waiting lists and $$$ through to the States for improvements at the tertiary [...]
Copyright © 2008 Private Media Pty Ltd, Publishers of Crikey.com.au. All Rights Reserved.
Independent news, blogs and commentary on politics, media and business.
Editor: Jonathan Green.
Publishers: Eric Beecher, Diana Gribble.
Level 7, 22 William St, Melbourne, 3000. Ph: 1800 985 502 Fax: (03) 8623 9975
