High hopes for the future of rural generalist medicine are reported in the column this week, as well as predictions of “a new and exciting era for the treatment of dementia”.
A measles outbreak in far north Queensland has prompted calls for “nationally coordinated action from all governments and health authorities to lift Australia’s vaccination rates”. Meanwhile, a timely new publication identifies practical strategies to lift childhood vaccine uptake.
Oral health, lung health, and a scorecard on climate and health in the United States are also covered. Don’t miss our columnist’s investigation of the claim that one in five children in Australia are suffering from chronic pain.
The quotable?
…instead of reforming the aged care system to put the rights of older people at its heart, Labor’s Act primarily serves to protect the bottom lines of providers.”
Charles Maskell-Knight writes:
The major health story across much of the world last week was United States President Donald Trump’s rambling media conference on Tuesday (US time), in which he said use of acetaminophen (paracetamol) during pregnancy increased the risk of autism in children, and advised pregnant women to “tough it out”.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would tell doctors to advise pregnant American women against using acetaminophen, “effective immediately”, he said. However, on Wednesday evening (US time), the FDA website still said:
“…to date, FDA has not found clear evidence that appropriate use of acetaminophen during pregnancy causes adverse pregnancy, birth, neurobehavioral, or developmental outcomes. However, FDA continues to recommend consultation with a health care professional before use of any medicine, including acetaminophen, during pregnancy.”
Croakey’s Dr Melissa Sweet has covered reaction to the issue here. Many Australian health groups issued statements on the matter, reiterating the message that there is no evidence of a link between paracetamol and autism, and that paracetamol is safe when used as indicated in pregnancy to address pain and fever.
My favourite analysis comes from the UK NewsThump site, which published a report, Nation capable of spotting spurious link between paracetamol and autism still baffled by obvious link between guns and mass shootings.
It went on, “the US has once again demonstrated its unique talent for scientific deduction by confidently declaring there may be a link between pregnant women taking paracetamol and children developing autism, while continuing to insist that the 600-plus mass shootings a year have absolutely nothing to do with everyone owning a bloody gun”.
On Thursday (US time), Trump announced via his social media platform that brand-name or patented pharmaceutical products will be subject to a 100 percent tariff starting from 1 October, unless the manufacturer has “broken ground” on a production plant in the US.
CNN reported that “the president sees tariffs as a way to pressure drug manufacturers to ramp up production in the US and to strengthen the supply chain for essential medicines”.
“Also, Trump has pointed to tariffs as a way to fulfill his vow to lower drug costs, though experts say that is unlikely to happen.”
As of Friday evening (US time), the Executive Order purporting to give effect to the tariffs has not yet been posted on the US Federal Register, so details of exactly what is proposed are sketchy. Health Minister Mark Butler told a media conference he was “very keen to understand the scope of the announcement”.
CSL, Australia’s largest exporter of pharmaceuticals to the US, was quick to point to its extensive US operations and plans for further investment, and say that “as per previous market guidance, we do not expect any material impact from these tariffs”.
Medicines Australia said it “firmly opposed” the tariffs, and that it is “engaging with our members and Government agencies to seek clarification and assess the implications”.
SBS reported that Opposition Sussan Ley said “this is a shocking but unsurprising development, and it is moments like this when a strong direct relationship with the president of the United States is critical to help save Aussie jobs”.
“While other leaders are able to pick up the phone to the president, Anthony Albanese has not established such a relationship,” she said.
Back in the real world, Minister Butler said all Health Ministers had now approved the Medical Board of Australia’s recommendation to establish rural generalist medicine as a new field of speciality practice within the specialty of general practice.
He added that at least a quarter of the 1,800 doctors beginning GP training in 2025 are studying to become rural generalists.
Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACCRM) President Dr Rod Martin said “recognition sends a powerful message: a career as a rural generalist is visible, valued, and vital for Australia’s health system”.
“Most importantly, recognition strengthens access to high-quality, locally delivered healthcare for rural, remote, and First Nations communities.”
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) President Dr Michael Wright said: “This is a positive step forward in making the rural generalism career pathway more visible and ensuring that RGs are always appropriately remunerated for the vital work they do in rural and remote communities across Australia.
“We must keep pushing forward to make sure we have the right funding incentives in place that allow RGs to take on additional training and additional skills, including working in local hospitals, and much more.”
Ahpra and the Medical Board of Australia issued a joint statement setting out the process to be undertaken before a doctor can actually be registered as a RG: “The Australian Medical Council (AMC) can now assess training programs in rural generalist medicine for accreditation, ahead of the Medical Board deciding whether to approve qualifications for the purposes of specialist registration.
“Once there is an approved qualification, medical practitioners with the approved qualification in Rural generalist medicine can apply to the Board for specialist registration in rural generalist medicine.”
The Board added that it was “working through transition arrangements for doctors practising in this area, pending the outcome of the AMC qualification accreditation process”.
Other groups welcoming the announcement included Palliative Care Australia (PCA), the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA), and the National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA).
PCA CEO Camilla Rowland said “in recognising rural generalist medicine as a specialty, we’re taking an important step toward ensuring compassionate, quality palliative care can happen closer to home, where people feel safe, connected, and surrounded by community”.
RDAA President Dr RT Lewandowski said “having more RGs in rural and remote areas will make a direct difference to the care available to rural patients, meaning that fewer of these patients will need to travel elsewhere to access care, or simply go without the care they really need”.
“It is an important step toward reducing the disparity in health outcomes between rural and urban patients, and addressing the maldistribution of doctors in Australia – it’s a great win for rural patients.”
NRHA Chief Executive Susi Tegen said it was only the second addition to specialty practice in 15 years, and followed “decades of tireless advocacy” by medical groups, the Office of the National Rural Health Commissioner, and the NRHA.
Tegen said “care provided by a rural generalist incorporates culturally safe care for First Nations peoples and prioritises integrated, continuous care – a model strongly valued by rural communities and linked to high patient satisfaction”.
Ministers and government
Minister for Aged Care Sam Rae signed the final Aged Care Rules 2025 (subordinate legislation under the new Aged Care Act) on 23 September, and they were registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments on 24 September – 37 days before they take effect.
The Rules are 632 pages long (excluding the table of contents), and the explanatory statement is well over 700 pages. Within a day of the Rules becoming available, there were rumours of a further delay to implementation of the new Act.
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (DHDA) released a Bulk Billing Incentives Calculator to help practice managers and GPs estimate the financial effects of adopting a fully bulk billing model from 1 November, when bulk billing incentives are extended to all Medicare eligible patients, and bulk billing Practice Incentive Payments begin.
DHDA also issue a series of statements about aged care, including:
- A statement on a trusted aged care workforce
- An announcement that the fourth edition of the Support at Home program manual is now available to help in-home aged care providers get ready for 1 November
- A statement that from 1 November 2025, the Quality Standards will be strengthened under the new Aged Care Act
- A statement that the star ratings system will be changed from 1 October so that “aged care homes will need to meet both legislated care minutes targets (total care minutes and registered nurse care minutes), to get three stars or more for their Staffing rating”.
(The change to the star ratings is long overdue – I have been arguing since early 2023 that the current system allowing providers to receive three stars for staffing while not meeting both targets is unequivocally wrong.)
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) released national trend data on colonoscopy showing “the gap in rates is widening, based on where people live and their socioeconomic status”.
Findings included:
- In 2023–24, there was an 18-fold difference between the local area with the highest rate of MBS-subsidised repeat colonoscopy and the local area with the lowest rate, compared with 2013–14, when there was an 11-fold difference
- Between 2013–14 and 2023–24, remote area rates decreased by 26 percent (157 to 116 per 100,000 people), compared with major cities which decreased by six percent (543 to 510 per 100,000 people)
- The most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas consistently had the lowest rates (334 per 100,000 people) of repeat colonoscopy and their rates reduced the most (17 percent) between 2013–14 and 2023–24, while the least socioeconomically disadvantaged areas consistently had the highest rates (609 per 100,000 people), which increased by two percent.
The ACSQHC also released an updated Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard.
Ahpra announced the Pharmacy Board of Australia had published guidance “reminding pharmacists to be as careful and diligent when supplying prescribed medicinal cannabis products as they would when supplying other drugs of dependence”.
Ahpra said the guidance “addresses the concerns of National Boards and Ahpra that profits may be being prioritised over patient safety”.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released deaths data for 2024. An interesting trend is the data over the last decade is that the proportion of total deaths accounted for by people aged 75 and over is edging upwards – from 66 percent in 2014 to 68 percent last year – as the population ages.
Consumer and public health groups
Dementia Australia welcomed the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) decision to register Leqembi (lecanemab) for use in Australia by “adult patients with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (Early Alzheimer’s disease)”.
The TGA had previously refused registration in October last year and again in March this year on the basis that “the safety and efficacy of the medicine, for the purposes which it was proposed to be used… were not satisfactorily established by the available evidence”. Following submission of additional information as part of an Administrative Review Tribunal process, the drug has now been registered.
Dementia Australia CEO Professor Tanya Buchanan said this approval, together with the approval of Kisunla by the TGA earlier this year, and the prospect of other drugs currently under development, “provided hope for people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease… and heralds a new and exciting era for the treatment of dementia”.
Buchanan said “as this and other treatments become available in Australia, we need to ensure that our health systems are ready and to make sure that access to treatment is equitable and available to everyone”.
The Lung Foundation Australia said during National Safe Work Month (October) it would continue its work “to break the silence on the threat silica dust poses to 600,000 Australian workers… focusing on four key industries with a high risk of silica dust exposure – tunnelling, construction, mining and quarrying, and manufacturing”.
Lung Foundation Australia Acting CEO Paige Preston said “a simple conversation with your GP or with our trained professionals could be the start of taking better care of your lung health and potentially an early diagnosis before it’s too late”.
“Knowledge is power, and the more Australian workers understand the risks, the more they can do to protect not only their lungs but their mates, too.”
As reported in this Croakey article by Tan Nguyen, the National Oral Health Alliance is asking for signatures to this petition responding to the consultation on the draft National Oral Health Plan framework, and calling for the Government to:
- Appoint a Commonwealth Chief Oral Health Officer
- Promote and undertake meaningful reform for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule
- Implement the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety recommendations on oral health
- Establish a Senior Dental Benefits Scheme for older Australians and a First Nations Dental Scheme
- Establish a Taskforce into Publicly Funded Essential Oral Healthcare using a priority-setting approach
- Promote equity in oral health outcomes, particularly for rural and remote areas
- Fund and implement a fit-for-purpose National Oral Health Plan 2025-2034.
The Public Health Association of Australia and the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health issued a statement about a new research paper outlining practical strategies to help improve childhood vaccine uptake.
These included:
- Improving access to vaccination, by increasing bulk billing of vaccination appointments and delivering vaccines after work hours and in different settings (general practice, community clinics, pharmacies, community events)
- Supporting provider education and advocacy by funding healthcare providers’ dedicated time for vaccination conversations and embedding communication training in healthcare providers’ professional development
- Supporting parent and caregiver knowledge and confidence by engaging communities in designing and sharing of vaccination messages using trusted community advocates, and automating vaccination reminder systems to alert patients of upcoming vaccinations
- Facilitating access to data by changing the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015 to enable better sharing of local coverage data relevant groups and providers, and supporting the ongoing collection and sharing of behavioural data to inform program planning.
First Nations
The Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) “acknowledged with deep respect the retirement of Dr John Paterson after more than 40 years of service as a key advocate and leader for Aboriginal health in the NT”.
AMSANT said Paterson, who stepped down as AMSANT CEO after almost 20 years, “had been a tireless advocate for the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal Territorians, playing a pivotal role in building and strengthening the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health sector and championing better health outcomes through community-led solutions”.
Paterson “a proud born and bred Territorian with family ties to the Ngalakan people in Ngukurr”, said “it has been the privilege of my life to serve our communities over the past four decades – working with, learning from, and standing alongside Aboriginal people to ensure health systems respect our culture, respond to our realities, and meet our needs”.
The news prompted messages of support and acknowledgement on social media, including from the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia and Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services.
Trade unions
The Australian College of Nursing’s (ACN) said throughout its Nursing in the Community Week 2025 it would be “sending a clear message that nurses are working and providing high-quality care and advice wherever and whenever you need them, and they should be supported to provide more comprehensive care”.
Chair of the ACN Nursing in the Community Faculty Professor Liz Halcomb said that 40 percent of all nurses and midwives in Australia do not work in hospitals
“Nurses working in the community could do much more to improve people’s access to the care they need if recommended reforms were introduced to allow nurses and midwives to work to their full scope of practice, independent of outdated regulations and red tape,” she said.
The ACN also responded to the measles outbreak in far north Queensland centred on Cairns. Queensland Health published a list of 40 exposure sites (some of them with possible exposure stretching over a number of days), including a number of health clinics, backpacker hostels, buses and cruise boats.
Cases have also been confirmed on the Gold Coast.
The ACN said the outbreak pointed to the need for “nationally coordinated action from all Governments and health authorities to lift Australia’s vaccination rates”.
The College called for nurse immunisers to be given funding and authorisation “to establish dedicated immunisation clinics with extended opening hours in community settings that are accessible to everyone, including at Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services, and in public spaces like libraries and shopping malls”.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) welcomed the Tasmanian Government announcement on World Pharmacists Day that it would “expand the role of community pharmacists, enabling them to provide more care to Tasmanians closer to home”.
The law will be changed to allow pharmacists who undertake additional training to “provide treatment for a broader range of common health conditions, including ear infections, reflux, rhinitis, shingles, eczema, and wound care… [and] initiate and continue hormonal contraception for women”.
The PSA issued a separate statement about World Pharmacists Day – which this year has the theme Think Health, Think Pharmacist – “calling for Governments and stakeholders to embrace the skills and knowledge of pharmacists as the health system evolves to meet the ballooning health needs of the Australian population”.
Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha) marked World Pharmacists Day by “reiterating AdPha’s call for sustained investment in the hospital pharmacy workforce”.
AdPha President Associate Professor Tom Simpson said “hospital pharmacy shortages are real – and patients will continue to suffer if governments fail to act”.
“Every patient’s journey is safer and more efficient because of hospital pharmacists and technicians.”
In other words, using pharmacists in the community as substitute GPs is leaving gaps in hospitals.
Industry groups
The Australian Health Service Alliance (AHSA) announced a “[large] hospital group has received a performance-based incentive from AHSA as a result of measurable improvements to their patient-reported experiences”.
“It comes after the hospital group embraced the opportunity with AHSA and committed to improving patient experience scores over a defined period.”
AHSA said its 21 member-owned health insurers approved a performance-based rate increase after the hospital group improved its patient reported health care experience measures.
The Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) issued yet another vituperative media release criticising private health insurers for “annual funding shortfalls of over $1 billion a year for three straight years”.
“This funding gap is the difference between what it costs hospitals to provide healthcare and what health insurance companies actually pay,” AHPA said.
As I have commented before, there is no evidence that insurers are not meeting their contractual or regulatory obligations. Given well over 90 percent of hospital episodes are paid for under contract, the “shortfall” reflects poor contracts entered into by hospitals.
And while I entirely agree with the APHA that insurers’ management costs have been increasing too quickly, it is not quite true that “insurers also reaped $3.4 billion in higher ‘management fees’” in 2024-25 – the $3.4 billion is the total cost of administering and managing the insurance sector.
Hospitals have administration costs as well – presumably they “reap” these from the benefits they receive for patient care, but there is no public transparency on these costs.
The APHA also issued a statement bemoaning the closure of the Hobart Clinic, the “last remaining private acute mental health hospital” in the city.
AHPA said it was “just the latest in a string of private hospitals to close in the face of private health insurers profiteering while failing to pay for treatments in full, a situation compounded by the Albanese Government’s three years of inaction”.
As Private Healthcare Australia (PHA, the private health insurers lobby group) notes, “hospitals open and close regularly, as reported by the Department of Health and Aged Care here“.
“Australia has more private hospitals than it did six years ago, and hospitals are continuing to open across Australia. For example, in the first two months of 2025, Ramsay Health Care opened new services in Albury-Wodonga on the NSW Victorian border, in Brisbane, and in Caloundra in Queensland.”
Catholic Health Australia (CHA) said Medibank and St John of God Health Care had announced a new partnership “to enhance value and accessibility for both customers and patients [with a] joint commitment focused on innovation, including the design of new care options for customers in both regional and metropolitan areas”.
Under the arrangement, St John of God Murdoch will be the second hospital in Western Australia to join Medibank’s no gap program for selected services.
The Pharmacy Guild said A Pharmacist’s Guide to Supporting Kids in Pain, released by Kids in Pain, a national initiative by Chronic Pain Australia, “offers tangible advice and recommendations for community pharmacists who are the most accessible healthcare providers”.
Chronic Pain Australia chair Nicolette Ellis said “pain in children is real, complex, and often invisible”.
“Pharmacists can be powerful advocates – especially in rural and underserved communities – by offering both clinical advice and compassionate care.”
The Pharmacy Guild also recognised World Pharmacists Day, saying “new research reveals… half of Australians are unaware of the full care their local pharmacist can provide, even though pharmacists remain highly trusted and widely accessible”.
National President Professor Trent Twomey said “too many Australians still don’t realise that highly trained pharmacists can provide immediate help with everyday health conditions like a UTI, a sick certificate or the resupply of certain prescriptions”.
“That mismatch is blocking access to faster, more local care, and it’s keeping pressure on GPs and hospitals when the system can least afford it.”
Of course, the expanded scope of practice is not yet available in every state and, in those states where it is available, at this point only a minority of pharmacists can provide it.
Politicians and parliamentary committees
The House of Representatives inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative announced it would hold a public hearing on 3 October, to be attended by DHDA and a range of consumer, advocacy, and provider groups.
Greens Aged Care spokesperson Penny Allman-Payne released a statement about the implementation of the new Aged Care Act from 1 November, saying “instead of reforming the aged care system to put the rights of older people at its heart, Labor’s Act primarily serves to protect the bottom lines of providers”.
“The new laws achieve this by requiring many older people, including full pensioners, to pay more for care and support. And they don’t even get an enforceable right to quality care in return.”
Allman-Payne also released a letter she had written to Minister Rae urging him to reconsider co-payments for non-clinical care services.
(For more on this issue in Croakey, see this article by VACCHO CEO Dr Jill Gallagher AO and this statement by the Healing Foundation. Also see the article by Professor Kathy Eagar AM in Pearls and Irritations Government is planning hardship for older Australians living at home.)
International organisations
The Commonwealth Fund (US-based health policy think tank) released a US State Scorecard on Climate and Health, “evaluating states on their vulnerability to, and contribution to, environmental factors affecting their populations and health care systems and to highlight opportunities for reducing patient and community impacts”.
It used publicly available data to rank states on eight indicators: air quality, extreme heat risk, natural hazard vulnerability, energy efficiency policies, electricity generation emissions, health sector emissions, flood risk, and health care facility employee commuting emissions.
The study found that “Vermont, New York, and Washington are the top-ranked states overall”.
“The lowest ranked are West Virginia, Kentucky, and Louisiana. High-ranked states have lower environmental risk and vulnerability as well as stronger decarbonisation and clean energy policies. Low-ranked states face more frequent and intense hazards and lack supportive energy and environmental policies.
“Southwestern states face the greatest health risks from extreme heat, while low-lying coastal states like Florida and Louisiana have more health infrastructure at risk of flooding. Both coastal and inland states are at high risk for natural hazards.”
It should come as no surprise that the bottom five states all voted for Trump, and the top five states all voted for Harris.
Finally
I have always been intrigued by the way health factoids emerge and gain public currency.
The latest example I have come across is the estimate that one in five children in Australia, or 877,000 (sometimes rounded to “almost 900,000”) children are suffering from chronic pain.
It was reflected in the Pharmacy Guild’s statement about children with chronic pain, which said “community pharmacists can play a critical role in supporting the one in five children managing chronic pain in Australia”.
I was surprised by the estimate that one in five children in Australia are managing chronic pain, so I began to track it down.
The Pharmacy Guild referenced the statement to this report by Chronic Pain Australia.
While the report presents the results of a self-selected “survey” of children in pain, it is clear that the statistic does not derive from the survey.
The statistic appears in the introduction to the report and twice elsewhere as an established fact without attribution: “one in five Australian children experiences chronic pain, yet most wait years for recognition, care, and support”.
I then came across an article in The Conversation by Dr Joshua Pate and Professor Mark Hutchinson, who carried out the survey for Chronic Pain Australia.
Their article begins “most children bounce back from pain after an injury or illness. But for one in five – approximately 877,000 children in Australia – the pain continues”.
The link in their introduction leads to an article published in the journal Pain presenting the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of chronic pain in children and adolescents published in 2024.
Of the 119 studies included in the analysis, three were of young Australians.
The article concluded that “overall, across all studies, the prevalence of chronic pain in children and adolescents was 20.8 percent (95% CI: 19.2-22.4), which equates to one in five children and adolescents experiencing chronic pain”.
However, the article notes that “there was significant between-study heterogeneity in the meta-analysis with the I2 at 99.9%, and thus, the prevalence estimates should be interpreted with caution”.
So the estimate of 877,000 Australian children with chronic pain is based on a dataset that includes hardly any Australia data, and a study that explicitly says the one in five prevalence estimate should be interpreted with caution.
The one in five estimate for Australian children is inconsistent with other estimates and data sets.
Five years ago the AIHW released a report on Chronic Pain in Australia, which found that one in five of people aged 45 years and older suffered from chronic pain, based on a survey carried out by the ABS in 2016 of people aged 45 and over who saw a GP in the previous 12 months.
However, the prevalence of chronic pain in the 45-54 year age group, the youngest cohort in the survey, was estimated at under 15 percent.
On 19 September this year, Pain Australia issued a statement claiming “chronic pain affects around 3.6 million Australians” – which implies a prevalence across the whole population of 13 percent.
Given prevalence of chronic pain increases with age and exposure to arthritis and the sequelae of injury, cancer, and surgical intervention, an estimate of prevalence among children and adolescents of 20 percent is completely inconsistent with a whole of population prevalence of 13 percent.
Consultations and inquiries
Here is our weekly list of requests by government bodies and parliamentary committees for responses to consultations or submissions to inquiries, arranged in order of submission deadlines. Please let us know if there are any to add for next week’s column.
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (third edition) – Public Consultation
30 September
Senate Select Committee on PFAS (per and polyfluoroalkyl substances)
New submissions
30 September
House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability
Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative
3 October
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Reviewing the safety and regulatory oversight of unapproved medicinal cannabis products
7 October
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Draft national health and medical research strategy
8 October
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
Code of Ethics review
10 October
Pharmacy Board of Australia
Draft Guidelines for pharmacists on the safe provision of pharmacy services including medicines and advice
13 October
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
Emergency Laparotomy Clinical Care Standard
14 October
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Consultation: Proposed amendments to the Poisons Standard – November 2025 meetings
17 October
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Consultation on outlawing private health insurance product “phoenixing”
17 October
Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Advisory Committee
Vascular Interventional Radiology Draft Report
22 October
Attorney-General’s Department
Issues Paper on reforms to the Disability Discrimination Act
24 October
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability
Inquiry into the health impacts of alcohol and other drugs in Australia
31 October
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
National Occupational Respiratory Disease Registry 12-month review
31 October
Office of the Gene Technology Regulator
Commercial release of tomato genetically modified for purple fruit colour
(Note: the FSANZ consultation on amending the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to permit food derived from a genetically modified purple tomato closed on 10 September.)
3 November
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Product Information as a package insert – consumer administered injectables
7 November
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Updating clinical guidelines for dementia care
31 December
Charles Maskell-Knight PSM was a senior public servant in the Commonwealth Department of Health for over 25 years before retiring in 2021. He worked as a senior adviser to the Aged Care Royal Commission in 2019-20. He is a member of Croakey Health Media; we thank and acknowledge him for providing this column as a probono service to our readers. Follow on X/Twitter at @CharlesAndrewMK, and on Bluesky at: @charlesmk.bsky.social.
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