Published Letters
More Links
27th Feb 2016
Health minister’s prostheses cost inquiry welcomed but……..
Published in smh on Saturday, February 27, 2016
It’s great to see the Minister for Health, Sussan Ley, asking why prostheses such as hip replacements and pacemakers cost so much more than world market prices in the private system (“Prosthetic procedure cost disparity targeted“, February 26).
11th Feb 2016
Medicare sell off: where’s the care factor?
Published in Age on Thursday, February 11, 2016
Reports that the Medicare and related billing systems may be privatised should send a shudder through the hearts of all Australians who struggle daily with the changes due to the otherwise amazing technology (“PM rolls dice on Medicare”, 10/2). Read more
1st Dec 2015
Money, the bottom line
Published in the Age on Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Money, the bottom line
The federal government’s changes to how mental health care is delivered are indeed welcome although somewhat belated (Editorial, 30/11). But there is no new funding to enable the changes to be implemented.
11th Nov 2015
Punishing the poor
Published in the Age on Wednesday, November 11, 2015
While the federal government considers attacking nicotine addicts with less access to private healthcare and forcing them on to the underresourced public system, the opposition considers attacking the hip pockets of such addicts to fund education.
6th Nov 2015
Two-tier health system
Published in the Age on Friday, November 6, 2015
The cuts to public hospital funding were brought in by Joe Hockey’s first budget (“Health cuts equal to closing two hospitals”, 5/11). They are Tony Abbott’s legacy. The purpose was to pressure states into supporting a rise in the GST and to further erode public confidence in public hospitals. This in turn leads to increased reliance on private hospitals.
28th Sep 2015
Exorbitant drug prices
Published in the Age on Monday, September 28, 2015
Reports of excessive prices for new life-saving treatments for patients with hepatitis C should not be news (“Life imitates art in drug buyers’ club”, 26/9).
26th Sep 2015
A dangerous deal
Published in the Age on Saturday, September 26, 2015
The Turing Pharmaceuticals case, in which a venture capitalist has bought rights to an old but important drug and massively increased its price (World, 24/9), is an excellent illustration of what awaits us with the US free trade agreement. Pyrimethamine was developed years ago and is cheap to produce. It is a critically important drug for HIV sufferers and those suffering toxoplasmosis, most of whom are unable to afford the bloated price which will be charged.
8th Jun 2015
Child abuse in detention centres
Published in The Age on Monday, June 8, 2015
(underlined edited out by Age)
What has Australia become? An 11 year old boy breaks his arm and despite being under the care of our government as a refugee on Nauru, he receives inadequate care and is faced with a lifetime of deformity and limited function of his arm. Both the Royal Australian Colleges of Psychiatrists and of Physicians finds that detention of children is harmful to their mental and developmental health and yet we hear of a 5 month old child of asylum seekers sent from Melbourne to Nauru (Age 6/6).