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Health Care

Health Care

What if doctor doesn’t know best?

When are medical treatments worthwhile and when are they futile? This is a complex and often divisive question. Even experienced doctors sometimes disagree about whether to treat, or not to treat. Take, for example, the controversy surrounding the former director of The Alfred hospital's trauma centre, Thomas Kossmann. In 2007,…
Sarah Russell
February 9, 2011
Health Care

Terminally ill patients must have greater choice

People who are dying face a complex range of decisions and choices. There are, for example, choices about where to die (home, hospital, hospice). Choosing where we die often impacts on how we die. Choosing where we die is often based on our beliefs about what “dying with dignity” means.…
Sarah Russell
February 7, 2011
Health Care

Being a mother is about more than biology

Sunday is Mother's day. Commercial cynicism aside, for lots of people it's a day of celebration. Many women will spend the morning in bed with their kids balancing toast and cups of tea, tearing at wrappings, admiring new fluffy slippers, complimenting the artistry of their home made card and pretending…
Sarah Russell
May 6, 2010
Health Care

Consult on trauma

The controversy surrounding Dr Kossmann at The Alfred Hospital’s Trauma Centre suggests that even experienced doctors sometimes disagree about whether to treat, or not to treat. These “life and death” decisions are often complex. So it is not surprising that Dr Kossmann’s colleagues might sometimes question his judgement, as might…
Sarah Russell
December 4, 2008
Health Care

Definition of family: mum, dad, kids? No way

Last week two controversial bills were debated in the Victorian Parliament. MPs in the upper house passed the Abortion Law Reform Bill. In the lower house, MPs voted 47 to 34 in support of the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Bill, which proposes expanding access to IVF. The bill also creates greater opportunity…
Sarah Russell
October 14, 2008
Health Care

The politics of test-tube parenthood

There has been a lot of talk lately about surplus embryos and what to do with them. In Victoria, there are three options: surplus embryos can be donated to research, disposed of, or donated to other infertile people. Recently, the Infertility Treatment Authority announced that it is considering a new…
Sarah Russell
September 3, 2007
Health Care

Epidemics

Australia has an epidemic of epidemics - ADHD, autism, diabetes, multiple pregnancies, noise, indigenous chronic disease, dementia, and now food allergies. It is surprising that any of us are left standing. First published as a letter to The Age on 19 June 2007         …
Sarah Russell
June 19, 2007