Ms Liliana Bufonte from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) partly explain the process by which new drugs or formulations do or do not gain PBS acceptance.

Those in the market for a nip and tuck are finding cosmetic tourism an attractive option. The promise of cheaper rates and recovery in a luxury Southeast Asian resort are drawing a growing number of patients overseas, but not everyone is convinced. There are accusations of poor-quality work and limited patient monitoring, and we could find no strong audit trail behind the surgeons’ or tour operators’ endorsements.

When the National Prescribing Service (NPS) was launched it was all about promoting better standards of prescribing (“QUM”) and any suggestions there was a cost-saving agenda were decried. Things have changed. The Dept of Health & Ageing funded NPS to the tune of $75.8m during 2005-2009, under the condition that NPS was to deliver $160m of PBS savings to government during those four years. In its latest evaluation report (2008–09 Evaluation Report No. 12), NPS says it has delivered $47m in excess of.....

In 2001, the medical technology industry responded to pressure from consumers and watchdogs like the ACCC with the setting up of a Code of Practice overseen by the Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA). The code is voluntary, penalty provisions are yet to be used and policing is mainly internal, with one company watching another for any breaches. The Code became more stringent with the 5^th revision in October 2009. Although you are now unlikely to see a surgeon skiing in the Aspen Mountains courtesy of Company X while he contemplates using a particular prosthesis, the Code is not as stringent as that for Medicines Australia. This is partly because....

We had such an overwhelming response to a single question on this issue, Medical Forum has decided to devote a page to general practitioner comment. We start with the E-poll question....

When it comes to fees, there are inevitable turf wars between factions within the profession, and as raised by Dr Olga Ward's April guest column, the current practice of private obstetricians triggering the Medicare safety net with a hefty fee for pregnancy planning - sometimes to the GP's detriment - is a slippery slope.