Amyl nitrite, known as poppers, can now legally be sold in pharmacies. But don’t expect to see it stocked any time soon. No product has yet passed Australia’s manufacturing and testing process.
It’s not just women who are the losers following the latest TGA announcement. People with all types of medical devices need better regulatory protection.
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The proposed Australian ban of some types of breast implants is too little, too late. It also reveals regulatory failures that need to be fixed if Australian consumers are to be protected.
Advances in technology mean it’s now possible to 3D print everything from prosthetic limbs to skin, bones and organs.
armymedicine/flickr
Who should be legally responsible when 3D printed devices fail? Proposed changes to the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s regulatory framework have the potential to settle that question.
It’s misleading to say that withdrawing codeine-containing products from sale without a prescription will reduce codeine use.
MELANIE FOSTER/AAP
The claim there is no evidence painkillers combined with lower doses of codeine are more effective in treating pain, is misleading. As are others in this debate.
The Australian drugs regulator is overhauling the health claims made by suppliers of complementary medicines, including homeopathic therapies. And some curious options are up for discussion.
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Would you trust a complementary medicine described as “vermifuge”, “vulnerary” or “emmenagogue”? That’s what new labelling proposes and not everyone’s happy about it.
Hundreds of women have complained of adverse reactions from transvaginal mesh implants.
Anna Noack/Unsplash
Regulatory bodies approved some medical devices to treat pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence before having data to prove their safety and efficacy.
Some of the notable additions to the PBS include drugs to treat eye and HIV infections, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, and cancer.
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If the Therapeutic Goods Administration implements new proposals to regulate complementary medicines, you can be more confident they actually do what they say on the packet.
The effective ban on e-cigarettes in Australia forces people to access unregulated nicotine products to help them quit smoking.
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Ken Harvey, Monash University; Sasha Hall, Monash University, and Tiana Moutafis, Monash University
Consumers can’t always be confident claims for complementary medicines stack up. Here’s how to foster truth in advertising.
Patients with life-threatening diseases can legally order drugs available overseas and have them delivered to their local pharmacy. But what are the risks?
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Judith Singleton, Queensland University of Technology; Esther Lau, Queensland University of Technology, and Lisa Nissen, Queensland University of Technology
The Social Medwork is a website that promises patients legal access to medicines from overseas. How does it work? What are the risks? And why are patients turning to it to access the drugs they need?
The Medical Technology Association of Australia is quietly influential.
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If your health practitioner has used a syringe, pacemaker, dental filling or joint implant to treat you, you’ve encountered a product from the medical technology industry.
Patients report not being effectively anaesthetised during liposuction procedures to extract stem cells from fat.
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Due to a lack of effective regulations, there is little oversight of “stem cell treatments” and the businesses that provide them.
Bone-marrow transplants to treat leukaemia are one of the miniscule number of stem-cell treatments that have a strong evidence base.
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Australians clinics are offering stem-cell-based anti-ageing and cosmetic therapies that have not been clinically tested. Here’s what we need to do to ensure consumers don’t get ripped off, or worse.
‘Clinically proven’ to shorten your cold? Not quite.
Screen shot from http://www.easeacold.com.au/
Making sure that a tablet claiming to have 500 mg of paracetamol really does contain 500 mg of paracetamol is relatively easy. But how do you test for herbs?
Rural Health Minister Fiona Nash (right), sitting next to singer Katie Noonan (left) on Q&A.
Q&A
When asked about importing cannabis oil to treat child epilepsy, rural health minister Fiona Nash told Q&A that the TGA can allow importation of products not registered in Australia. Is that right?
Representatives of the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries at a press conference in Atlanta, after a deal was reached.
EPA/Erik S. Lesser
Before the last round of negotiations, only a handful of issues remained in the way of concluding the TPP. A potential deal-breaker for Australia was intellectual property protections for biologics.
Our re-analysis.
found significant increases in harms with both the antidpressants used in Study 329, compared to the placebo.
Steve Smith/Flickr
Professor - Emerging Technologies (Stem Cells) at The University of Melbourne and Group Leader - Stem Cell Ethics & Policy at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The University of Melbourne