Ruth Townsend

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National registration would set educational and professional standards to better protect patients. AAP Image/Peter Scarf

Paramedics administer drugs and deliver babies, they deserve national registration

Ruth Townsend, Australian National University and Michael Eburn, Australian National University

Paramedics are one of the few health practitioners who can administer drugs and anaesthetics, deliver babies and perform high-risk interventions, all with relative autonomy. Yet the paramedic profession…
Some drug manufacturing in India is global best practice. Other production is both shoddy and dangerous. Shutterstock

Regulator silent on safety of Indian‑made generic drugs

Bruce Baer Arnold, University of Canberra; Ruth Townsend, Australian National University, and Wendy Bonython, University of Canberra

Generic drugs are copies of brand-name drugs whose patent has expired, allowing consumers (and governments) to buy a replica drug at a fraction of the price. But a recent US investigation has found consumers…
By allowing ISDS clauses in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Australia could be opening the door to more legal challenges from corporations. mattyp_/Flickr

When trade agreements threaten sovereignty: Australia beware

Ruth Townsend, Australian National University

The leaking of a key Trans-Pacific Partnership document by Wikileaks this week suggests Australia may side with the US on some key issues including the insertion of an Investor-State Dispute Settlement…
Public confidence in medical research is vulnerable to attacks on its integrity. Andrew Huff

What Australia should do to ensure research integrity

Ruth Townsend, Australian National University; Bruce Baer Arnold, University of Canberra, and Wendy Bonython, University of Canberra

Clinical trials of an experimental cancer drug being undertaken by the University of New South Wales were suspended this week, after questions about the accuracy of some preliminary results were made public…
Even with an e-health record, doctors will still need to ask patients about their medical history. j reed

Doctors and patients uneasy about new e‑health records system

Ruth Townsend, Australian National University

In the shadow of the carbon tax, Australia’s e-health records scheme rolled out on July 1 with what can only be described as a very soft launch. Unlike the carbon tax, the e-health records scheme is voluntary…

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