‘Unrelenting’ patient violence triggers call for improved security
Bed block, drug use and the failure to equip EDs for acute mental illness are responsible for rising rates of patient violence, doctors warn. Patients…
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Doctors clash over JAMA review of antidepressant withdrawal risks
Psychiatry researchers claim the risks of antidepressant withdrawal are overblown after their JAMA Psychiatry study concluded the average patient did not have clinically significant symptoms.…
This doctor’s ‘one-year’ trip to Australia in 2006 ended up reshaping international guidelines
Professor Britta Regli-Baronin Ungern-Sternberg von Purkel arrived in Australia with her husband in 2006 for a one-year stay. Almost 20 years later, she is still…
From hero to pariah in 72 hours: The mushroom murder trial’s fallout for Dr Chris Webster
Dr Chris Webster was on holiday in Queensland with his family when the verdict in Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial popped up on his phone.…
The news today? Dr Charlie Teo hits the speaker circuit and Franklin River rescue doctor receives national honour
Welcome to your bite-sized wrap-up. Below, we provide news summaries of what is going on in medicine, with links to the articles, opinions, studies and…
For women like Priya, becoming pregnant with a girl is a failure of family duty
Priya* was in her 20s when she married a man she had never met. Her parents paid about $20,000 and 300g of gold jewellery as…
HotDoc apologises for promoting telehealth GPs to patients trying to book at their usual practice
A GP backlash has forced booking site HotDoc to stop offering fast-tracked telehealth appointments to patients trying to book with their usual practice. A HotDoc…
Mental health workers join police call-outs as states try to stop patients ending up in ED
As patients with acute mental illness increasingly end up in EDs, several states are running trials of mental health workers joining police call-outs to avert…
Fitness-to-drive laws under scrutiny again after 91-year-old driver crashes into three people
Fitness-to-drive laws are back in the spotlight after a car driven by a 91-year-old killed two people and left a toddler seriously injured. Victorian Acting…
GPs meet health officials in campaign to fund obesity drugs on PBS
A group of GPs is pushing the Federal Government to subsidise new obesity medications through the PBS for priority patients. Perth GP Dr Mark Mellor…
