ABC News, 10/4/2018 Think about the tools you use for work, and then imagine a legal change on the other side of the world could take them out of your hands. Sex workers fear that could happen in Australia if a contentious US bill becomes law. It’s aimed at making websites liable if they’re used to facilitate “sex trafficking”. Like every profession, sex work is...
Pelvic mesh implant patients want answers from Senate report
ABC 730 report, 26/3/2018 A steady stream of Australian women with pelvic mesh implants have spent tens of thousands of dollars flying to a clinic in Missouri to have their implants removed, claiming they have suffered major side-effects from the implants used to treat prolapse and incontinence. More than 35 Australian women have made the journey to the same practitioner because, they say, they...
HIV PrEP available on PBS in Australia from 1 April / Links to Clinical Resources
Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM), 21 March 2018 ASHM congratulates the Federal Health Minister, the Hon. Greg Hunt’s announcement of a landmark in HIV prevention to approve HIV-prevention drugs – tenofovir with emtricitabine, known as PrEP – on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from 1 April, thereby providing broader access for any doctor or general...
Time to fully decriminalise sex work
The Age, 2 March 2018 There are only two places in the world where sex work is fully decriminalised: New Zealand and New South Wales. Everywhere else in Australia, it is partially criminalised, even though many of the concerns raised about sex work by the general public or by legislators are already addressed by existing legislation: there are laws for disturbing the peace, there are noise...
Essure contraceptive device: Hazard Alert from TGA
Therapeutic Goods Administration, August 30, 2017
Consumers and health professionals are advised that Australasian Medical and Science Ltd (AMSL), in consultation with the TGA, has issued a hazard alert for Essure. AMSL is also recallingunused stock and withdrawing the device from the Australian market.
Read more of Essure contraceptive device: Hazard Alert
The battle over Essure
The Washington Post, Published on July 26, 2017 Nobody can say exactly how many women have had Essure implanted since the device went on the market in 2002. Bayer, which is headquartered in Germany, says that more than 750,000 devices have been sold worldwide and that sales “continue to grow.” In recent years, the [US] Food and Drug Administration has received more than 16,000 adverse-event...