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The first pig kidney has been transplanted into a living person. But we’re still a long way from solving organ shortages
Reports are increasing of patients receiving xenotransplanted organs under ‘compassionate use’ exemptions. The number of CRISPR/Cas9 genome edits are also increasing. But the science does not yet demonstrate ‘proof of principle.’
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Vaping law reform: Protecting the Pacific
Vaping is on the rise and governments are scrambling to respond. Guest authors Sophia Bleakley, Clare Gim and Helen Zhang analyse the issues.
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Case note: Fidge v Pfizer Australia Pty Ltd [2024] FCA 161
In a case interesting for many reasons, Rofe J of the Federal Court of Australia has held it is not an ‘incident of medical practice’ for medical practitioners to challenge alleged offences under law to (putatively) protect patients.
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Strengthening Australia’s smoke and vape-free beach culture (north, and south, of the border)
Keeping beaches smoke and vape-free severs the link between relaxation and nicotine addiction. It says you don’t need to harm your body to enjoy yourself.
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Choosing a new doctor? Earlier sexual misconduct may soon be on the public record
Reports of sexual misconduct by Australian health practitioners against patients continue to increase. Now, Australian health ministers are considering three interesting amendments intended to protect patients from boundary violations.
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Chimeric animals: Bioethically questionable but scientifically informative?
A new study published in Cell demonstrates the potential of donated embryonic stem cells to effectively blend with a primate’s cellular DNA, creating a chimeric animal.
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Vaping law reform: New South Wales in a federal context
There is a lot of vaping-related law reform activity going on in Australia at the moment. This (long) post reviews NSW vaping laws and provides a baseline for understanding the changes that are underway, both at NSW (State) and Commonwealth level. Background The failure to enforce nicotine control laws, together with ludicrously low penalties, have…
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Let guidelines be your guide: AHPRA and National Boards to reform cosmetic procedures sector
As the guidelines develop, it will be interesting to see how the regulator and Boards attempt to deal with the difficult problem of social media promotion in this very popular sector.
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Proving the “competent professional practice” defence in NSW: Is the law any clearer after Dean v Pope?
Background A health practitioner who is sued for negligence in NSW will avoid liability under s 5O(1) of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) “if it is established that the professional acted in a manner that (at the time the service was provided) was widely accepted in Australia by peer professional opinion as competent professional…
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What happens when doctors don’t act as they should? And what’s the ruling against neurosurgeon Charlie Teo?
Amid public controversy, an Inquiry of a Professional Standards Committee established under law has imposed practice restrictions on neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo.
Sydney Health Law interns Sophia, Clare and Helen have done an outstanding piece of work and raised an important issue.…