PM poll pledge to slash cost of hundreds of medicines
The maximum price of many prescription medicines will be reduced to $25 as part of Labor's re-election plan to bring down healthcare costs.
medicine
Chronic patients get most relief in medicine cost cut
Patients could save almost $7 on each prescription as the government promises to make medicines cheaper in a move supported by the coalition.
IVF, contraception drugs cheaper as birth rate dips
Several women's health drugs are being made cheaper as the government aims to boost the success of IVF treatments and help those suffering a painful condition.
Church members who killed girl ‘wanted to play God’
As they await their sentences for killing a girl, members of a church group have been told by her sister that God would eventually judge them for taking a life.
Rarer dementia a rollercoaster of debilitating ailments
Little is known about a form of dementia that affects more than 100,000 Australians but researchers are looking to build knowledge on the debilitating illness.
Mum accused of poisoning child seeks protective custody
The lawyer for a woman accused of giving her child unauthorised medication wants her to be in protective custody due to the publicity of the case.
Mum accused of poisoning baby in $60k social media scam
Police allege a mother gave her child unauthorised prescription medications to build a social media following and gain thousands of dollars in donations.
Bulk billing dips with GP care more complex and costly
Patients who rely on Medicare have fewer options as more clinics stop taking new bulk-billed patients, according to a study prompting calls for more funding.
‘Drugs are illegal’: premier’s warning over test trial
Drug takers are being warned they could still be arrested despite a state government waving through a pill-testing trial at music festivals over the summer.
Record number of GPs in training but ‘job not done’
Australia is facing a severe shortage of GPs. Though more medical students are opting to become local doctors, peak medical bodies say more must be done.
Doctors sore over radical pharmacist treatment plan
Patients could bypass GPs and be treated by pharmacists for some conditions under a proposed overhaul which has raised the ire of doctors.
Refugee doctors revive careers cut short by conflict
With their homes torn apart by war and conflict, refugee doctors in Queensland are getting an opportunity to be back in hospitals until they qualify to work.
Doctors demand answers over end-of-life care funding
A peak medical body is calling for urgent end-of-life care funding in the Queensland budget and an explanation as to where previous funding has gone.
Survey shows culture of bullying in trainee doctors
People who identify as non-binary experienced the highest rate of bullying among medical trainees, a national survey has found.
Subsidy for new treatment of ‘national cancer’ melanoma
A cutting-edge treatment for advanced melanoma will soon be added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, with 940 patients expected to benefit.
Over-the-counter cannabis pain relief on the horizon
Australians may be able to buy cannabis pain relief without a prescription in about 12 months with final clinical trials underway for a dissolvable tablet.
Rewards of going rural, as doctors push for recognition
Young doctors are more likely to choose to live and work in country Australia if rural generalist medicine is recognised as a specialty, medical colleges say.
Pact puts handbrake on ‘defining technology of our age’
A pact on artificial intelligence is intended to protect people from harm without stifling breakthroughs in vaccines, computing and defence.
Scientists win Nobel for work that led to COVID vaccine
A Hungarian-born researcher and a US scientist have won this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work on mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
Here’s what new 60-day prescriptions mean for you and your hip pocket
From today, there are significant changes to how some common medicines are prescribed and dispensed in Australia. This means you could walk away from the pharmacy with 60-days’ worth of your usual medicine from a single prescription. Until now, most long-term medicines were only available for 30 days at a time. So the price of these medicines for some patients may effectively halve.
Pharmacists shelve medicines campaign as talks begin
The federal government has entered into talks with the peak body representing pharmacies as its 60-day medicine dispensing policy kicks off.
Cheaper medicine policy to start, veto threat remains
Cheaper medicines and 60-day dispensing will go ahead as planned but a second push to veto the policy will come up for a vote just days after it starts.
Push to end driving fear for medicinal cannabis users
Roadside drug laws are particularly harsh on rural and outer suburban people who cannot use public transport, but proposed laws could change that.
More women to access medical abortion under eased rules
Any healthcare practitioner will be able to prescribe medical abortion pills, with health groups hailing the easing of the rules as a win for equity.
Tara Moss quietly drops negligence case against doctor
Former model Tara Moss has discontinued a civil lawsuit against a NSW doctor over an alleged misdiagnosis she claimed led to permanent injury and chronic pain.
‘Psychennex’ – new psychedelic-assisted clinic business
A subsidiary of ASX-listed Incannex Healthcare plans to open psychedelic-assisted clinics "as quickly as we can" across Australia in the next few years.
Big bulk billing boost the centrepiece of health budget
Changes to bulk billing incentives will give more than 11 million Australians access to general practitioner services with no out-of-pocket costs.
Call to put patients before profits in budget measures
Two peak medical bodies are at odds over solutions to soaring medicine expenses and a burdened health system, with patient well-being caught in the crossfire.
Jaw-dropping breakthrough helps man regenerate tissue
A world-first surgical technique performed by an Australian surgeon using a groundbreaking Australian-Singaporean 3D implant has produced a jaw-dropping result.
COVID deaths hit 12-month low
Case numbers of COVID have fallen significantly across the nation as new treatments provide hope in the fight against the deadly virus.
Wastewater shows codeine use plunges
Codeine use has dropped by 37 per cent since over the counter sales were banned, according to new findings from wastewater sampling taken across the nation.