News Articles
Stolen IVF patients' personal data shared on dark web
Date of Posting: 27-02-2025
IVF patients' personal information stolen in a cyber security breach has been published on the dark web. An investigation following the February 14 cyber attack on major IVF provider Genea has found patient management systems were accessed by Read More...
Smokers' death risk spiked for 23 common causes
Date of Posting: 26-02-2025
It kills dozens of Australians every day and now smoking has been linked to increased chances of dying from 23 common causes. Researchers from The Australian National University followed 178,000 people and explored detailed evidence on smoking and Read More...
Key to tackling rheumatic heart disease in Australia
Date of Posting: 26-02-2025
Culturally safe health care is key to tackling rheumatic heart disease in Australia, with researchers saying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led prevention programs need to be prioritised. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is an acquired, but pr Read More...
Emergency doctors raise alarm on escalating crisis
Date of Posting: 25-02-2025
Punching, kicking, spitting, biting, verbal abuse and threats - physical violence against emergency doctors is pushing them to "breaking point". Experts say the abuse is happening so often, it needs to be dealt with as a matter of Read More...
Biggest investment in Medicare in more than 40 years
Date of Posting: 24-02-2025
Australians will have access to an extra 18 million bulk-billed general practitioner visits a year as part of a major election pledge from the federal government. The election date has yet to be announced but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pr Read More...
Disease deaths, cases rise as new flood menace surfaces
Date of Posting: 24-02-2025
Three people have died from a disease linked with heavy rain since a clean-up began in a region devastated by flooding, sparking health concerns. North Queensland is recovering from weeks of wet weather that caused record-breaking flooding from Ma Read More...
Controversial hospital on notice after toddler's death
Date of Posting: 24-02-2025
The family of a toddler who died in hospital after critical failings in care were "catastrophically let down" by its operator, prompting a pledge to overhaul systems in place under a controversial private-public model. Two-year-old Joe M Read More...
Death toll rises from disease with heavy rain link
Date of Posting: 23-02-2025
Another person has died from a disease linked with heavy rain in a flood-hit region that may soon be on cyclone watch. Queensland Health confirmed an elderly person had died of melioidosis in Townsville while three new cases of dengue virus had al Read More...
Mental health plan to protect both doctors and patients
Date of Posting: 23-02-2025
Long hours, complex operations, competition to succeed at the highest level and looking after the lives of patients exact a heavy mental toll on Australian doctors. So the profession is set to examine itself with a new medical initiative to remedy Read More...
'Blow for women' as hospitals shut maternity wards
Date of Posting: 23-02-2025
Maternity wards at two private hospitals are set to close in a move labelled a "disappointing blow" to women seeking maternity care. Healthscope announced it would cease maternity services at Darwin Private Hospital and Hobart Private Ho Read More...
Major change to Australia's first euthanasia laws
Date of Posting: 20-02-2025
WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO VICTORIA'S EUTHANASIA LAWS? * Doctors able to raise the issue of voluntary assisted dying with terminally ill patients, previously they could not[subscribe] * Health practitioners who conscientiously object Read More...
Hospitals shut maternity wards citing low births, staff
Date of Posting: 20-02-2025
Maternity wards at private hospitals in two jurisdictions will close after the operator cited staffing challenges and declining birth rates. Healthscope announced it will cease maternity services at Darwin Private Hospital and Hobart Private Hospi Read More...
State moves to bin assisted dying 'gag' on doctors
Date of Posting: 20-02-2025
Doctors will no longer be muzzled from initiating voluntary assisted dying conversations with terminally ill patients under long-called-for law changes. A "gag clause" that banned Victorian practitioners from initiating a discussion on v Read More...
Pregnant women can avoid insulin with diet
Date of Posting: 19-02-2025
A reduced-calorie diet can help pregnant women who develop gestational diabetes avoid the need for insulin injections, according to a UK study. Gestational diabetes is a condition that develops during pregnancy and happens when additional hormones Read More...
Woman sues IVF clinic after having other couple's baby
Date of Posting: 19-02-2025
Krystena Murray became pregnant after undergoing in vitro fertilisation in 2023, and said she was unaware until she gave birth that the fertility clinic had made a fateful mistake. In December 2023, Murray delivered a healthy baby boy. But she als Read More...
US states grappling with a measles outbreak
Date of Posting: 19-02-2025
A measles outbreak in Texas has grown to 58 cases and eight people in neighbouring New Mexico also have been diagnosed with the highly contagious disease. Public health officials in New Mexico have said they suspect some of the state's cases a Read More...
Children among seven injured as burnout goes wrong
Date of Posting: 18-02-2025
An eight-year-old and a 10-year-old have been seriously hurt and another five onlookers injured in a dangerous burnout gone wrong. The 18-year-old driver lost control while performing the burnout in front of a crowd at Abermain, west of Newcastle Read More...
Rarer dementia a rollercoaster of debilitating ailments
Date of Posting: 18-02-2025
Two years ago, Annette was running a thriving small business and planning her next solo holiday. Today she's mostly confined to her aged care facility, unable to go out unchaperoned.[subscribe] She can no longer trust her legs to keep her u Read More...
Range of symptoms signal onset of Lewy body dementia
Date of Posting: 17-02-2025
Lewy body dementia is a disease associated with abnormal protein that eats away at the brain and causes issues with thinking, movement, behaviour and mood. There is no cure and little is known about the disease, with no definitive way of making a Read More...
Double mental health beds, coroner tells government
Date of Posting: 17-02-2025
"Bed block" in the NT health system led to death of a Tiwi Island mother, a coroner has found, recommending that NT government urgently fund the doubling of mental health beds to address an ongoing crisis. Following days of sedation in t Read More...
Vaccine critic Kennedy clinches top US health job
Date of Posting: 17-02-2025
Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine critic who has pledged to tackle chronic disease, has been named US Health Secretary after overcoming resistance from the medical establishment and members of Congress with promises to limit his role in vaccination poli Read More...
World-first treatment boosts prostate cancer survival
Date of Posting: 14-02-2025
Firefighter Patrick Fitzell was the picture of health until the day he started having trouble going to the bathroom. His wife convinced him to go for a "man check" which eventually led to a prostate cancer diagnosis, a move from New Zeal Read More...
Resignations puts private mental health care in play
Date of Posting: 14-02-2025
Sending mentally unwell patients for involuntary treatment in private hospitals remains on the table, after more than 110 public psychiatrists quit. The mental health doctors were among 206 of the 292-strong NSW workforce to threaten to quit in Ja Read More...
More doctors go bush, but hospitals still squeezed
Date of Posting: 14-02-2025
Emergency departments at regional hospitals are under immense pressure, despite more specialist doctors working in the bush. There has been a 75 per cent increase in the proportion of emergency medicine specialists working in rural and remote area Read More...
ANMF's vision for 2025 --transforming healthcare through workforce reform and support
Date of Posting: 13-02-2025
In 2025, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) is focused on enacting transformative changes aimed at improving the conditions for nurses, midwives, carers, and students, all while addressing the community's healthcare needs. Bui Read More...
Ozempic shows some promise for alcohol use disorder
Date of Posting: 13-02-2025
Novo Nordisk's blockbuster GLP-1 diabetes drug Ozempic led to improvements in some measures of alcohol use disorder in a small trial, US researchers say. The 48 participants in the nine-week trial all had moderately severe alcohol use disorder Read More...
Doctors fear health fallout from nuclear energy plans
Date of Posting: 12-02-2025
Doctors have warned of no "safe" level of radiation from a proposed network of nuclear reactors as battlelines are drawn for the federal election. Similar to other nuclear-powered nations, Australians living within a certain radius of a Read More...
Reason 'lazy' teens can't get up for school revealed
Date of Posting: 12-02-2025
Laziness may not be behind Australian teenagers' chronic sleepiness despite one-third of a parents believing the myth. Research by The Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne released on Wednesday shed light on the incorrect stereotypes fac Read More...
Woman's alcohol death prompts calls for delivery reform
Date of Posting: 12-02-2025
Alcohol delivery services could be restricted after a woman died from alcohol poisoning, with a coroner finding she had more than 300 alcohol products delivered in the six months to her death. Kathleen Arnold, 30, was found dead by her mother in t Read More...
Gender bias in healthcare guidelines is failing women
Date of Posting: 11-02-2025
Australian women are being let down by a lack of consideration for gender and sex in healthcare guidelines, leading to entrenched gender inequities at the highest levels of the health system. From medical emergencies such as heart attacks and stro Read More...
Drop in immunisation rates hits vaccine-maker's revenue
Date of Posting: 11-02-2025
Revenue from CSL's flu vaccine-making business dropped sharply in the first half of the financial year amid a significant fall in immunisation rates, particularly in the US. CSL Seqirus brought in revenue of $US1.66 billion ($2.6 billion) in t Read More...
Five bucks an hour may solve crisis in disability care
Date of Posting: 11-02-2025
Disability workers are leaving in droves, with advocates calling for a $5 an hour pay rise to reverse a major workforce crisis. Australia already has a disability staff shortfall of 100,000 positions, which only threatens to worsen as one in four Read More...
Trauma influenced mum on home birth before baby's death
Date of Posting: 10-02-2025
A woman whose baby died days after a home birth gone wrong had resisted labour at hospital because of a previous traumatic experience with her eldest child. Coroner Dimitra Dubrow will hold an inquest into the death of a six-day old baby, known as Read More...
Benefits of publishing pill testing data outweigh risks
Date of Posting: 10-02-2025
The results of pill testing trials and data behind drug warnings must be made public so more people can avoid highly dangerous substances. That's the verdict from a study into how the benefits of drug checking overseas can be rolled out in Aus Read More...
US health clinics grapple with federal funding squeeze
Date of Posting: 10-02-2025
President Donald Trump's executive orders have begun to disrupt patient care in the United States, as some providers cannot access essential federal funding, according to interviews with a dozen healthcare providers and policy advocates. Facil Read More...
Cost relief hailed as right prescription for menopause
Date of Posting: 09-02-2025
Government-subsidised access to hormone therapy for menopausal women will make a "meaningful difference" to the lives of countless sufferers, experts say. Three menopausal hormone therapies - Estrogel Pro, Estrogel and Prometrium - will Read More...
Live poultry markets in NYC, suburbs shut over bird flu
Date of Posting: 09-02-2025
Authorities in New York state have temporarily closed all live poultry markets in New York City and three suburban counties after detecting bird flu at seven markets within the past week. The virus has wiped out more than 156 million chickens, tur Read More...
Harvest celebrates native grains in community hands
Date of Posting: 09-02-2025
Gathering native grains in the northwest of NSW has become an annual festival, a space to yarn, and a chance to bring community together with university researchers. Grains were harvested from fields in Narrabri, NSW, then turned into seeds, groun Read More...
Study Finds Full COVID-19 Vaccination Reduces Risk of Cardiovascular Outcomes
Last Updated: 07-02-2025
As the pandemic rapidly spread to almost every corner of the world, immunologists worked to develop a vaccine that could handle the Coronavirus on a massive scale. As research continues to highlight how mRNA vaccines reduce the risk of infection, the Read More...
Cautious relief after nation wipes out bird flu strain
Date of Posting: 06-02-2025
A deadly bird flu strain has been eradicated from Australian shores, but egg farmers aren't feeling a blanket sense of relief. More than 1.8 million birds were killed in a quest to rid the nation of the disease after Victoria, New South Wales Read More...
