Next up in my “What the fuck” series is ABC’s “AM” programme. Today’s show was titled “Caesarean rates surge“. [emphases are mine] Tony Eastley’s introduction: The number of pregnant women requesting caesareans for psychological or social reasons has increased by… Read More ›
medicine
GPs: still not good enough to offer contraception and mental health advice
Family doctors are still not permitted to prescribe isotretinoin (Roaccutane) in Australia. The drug, used only for severe cystic acne, can be dangerous to fetuses and has been linked (inconclusively) with suicidal ideation and behaviour. We’re all pre-pregnant until proven… Read More ›
Vaginas are not “disgusting”. The Be Cervix Savvy campaign
Be Cervix Savvy is a new English cervical screening “awareness” campaign by registered charity Jo’s Trust and Hologic/Cytyc (manufacturers of the ThinPrep cervical screening system). There is some good, plain-language information at the site, though much of it is inexplicably… Read More ›
Linkfest.
via Sylvia P, these, erm, C-string “undies”. Twenty nine euros apiece. Speculation abounds on Twitter about how they work – like 80s snap bracelets, we’re thinking, though there are other theories. Nezua suggest that they stay on adhered by pure… Read More ›
Journalwatch: Emergency dept “frequent flyers” not hypochondriacs, says new study
Y’all know that one of the science-reporting peeves is the media not providing enough information for readers to find the original source without detective work. There’s often a last name, and sometimes a journal name, but publication dates are uncommon,… Read More ›
Amusing reporterly mis-step du jour
‘Health Shop’ sparks concern Australia’s first “retail health shop” staffed by nurses able to prescribe drugs and order tests will open in Perth next week amid concerns it may lead to second-grade medical care. I’m picturing a swipe of mercurochrome,… Read More ›
“Firewalls Under Fire”: Mark Newton talks internet censorship on Today show
Karl Stefanovic interviewed internet service provision expert and outspoken censorship critic Mark Newton on yesterday’s Today Show. Click on the eye image to see video. ~~~ Transcript: Karl Stefanovic: [Australia?]’s plan for a new internet filter has been widely criticised… Read More ›
Doctor denied residency because of son’s Down syndrome.
I’m seeing red. This is downright unconscionable. And in the face of a massive workforce shortage, too? This guy CAME to Australia answering the call for rural doctors in the first place. “Son’s Down syndrome forces doctor out of town”… Read More ›
Birthwatch: Coached pushing robs babies of oxygen, Brazilian C sections, and joyful birth
[from Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. Transcript here.] A couple of articles have been sitting in my Journalwatch pile for a goodly while now, so here they are. “Effects of Pushing Techniques in Birth on Mother and Fetus: A… Read More ›
Plucked from the wire: blogs are dead, dancing boobies, detention debt, NSW health, and Oz net use
Blogging is dead, long live multimedia-sharing and Twitter Wired says blogs are dead. Blah blah linkbait, blah blah everyone’s on Twitter these days, blah blah. Read it if you can be bothered. Most amusing moment: the author complains that blogs… Read More ›
Hoyden About Town 