The off-label use of medicines is not illegal and it doesn’t mean regulators have specifically “disapproved” its use. But there are a number of issues to consider before using a medicine off-label.
Articles on General practice
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To avoid ineffective treatments, we need a new way to identify and reduce questionable care. A new Grattan Institute report shows how to do it.
Australia spent $16 billion on GP-related health care in 2012-13. Given that our public health system means each of us is paying for health care through our taxes, what should we expect from doctors?
Any health reform proposals should start by addressing public hospitals and chronic care. But successful change in these areas requires getting the state-Commonwealth funding and incentives right.
Not so long ago, getting an x-ray for acute back pain was the norm. And they are still used far more frequently than is necessary.
With GPs facing greater economic pressure and the health minister considering legislative change to make it easier for GP to charge them, GP co-payments, like Lazarus, may rise again from the dead.
As well as being responsible for a large share of total costs, people who visit the GP more often are more likely to live in the most disadvantaged areas, and to report being in poor health.
The government has backed down from its plan to cut Medicare rebates to doctors, which was to start on Monday, January 19, after several days of public pressure. For those not au fait with the world of…
In the May budget, the Commonwealth government proposed a A$7 co-payment for GP services and tests done outside a hospital. After seven months of fierce criticism, the government abandoned those plans…
The Abbott government has scrapped its controversial A$7 co-payment plan and replaced it with a A$5 cut to GP rebates for patients over 16 without a concession card, and other rebate changes. The revised…
Last year taxpayers spent A$6.3 billion on GP services through Medicare, about 6% of the total government health expenditure. This was a 50% increase (A$2.1 billion) in today’s dollars over the past decade…
Here’s what I remember. It was 14 years ago, and I was a junior doctor working in psychiatry. Some colleagues planned a dinner as an end-of-term celebration and, despite reasonable incomes, they decided…
The opening of [eight new medical schools](](http://www.medicaldeans.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Website-Stats-2013-Table-4.pdf) in Australia in the past decade has seen a massive increase in the number…
Many poor families already pay a significant proportion of their household income on health care co-payments and will face increasing financial pressure with a proposed additional A$7 charge, according…
If you’re an adult and live in Australia, you’re more likely to be overweight or obese than not: 63% and 37% respectively. This excess weight is associated with increased premature death and disease, and…
Primary health care in Australia is a messy beast, with many heads and all sorts of body parts. But it’s centrally important because it plays a major role in achieving public health outcomes, such as better…
When we think of what defines a medical consultation, we quite reasonably think of the “presenting complaint”: the medical problem which the patient brings to the doctor. In movies, literature, common…
As a GP, when I prescribe a drug, I need to know its likely benefits and risks, and I need to base my decision-making on the best available evidence. I’d like to think the same principle applies to the…
Federal health minister Peter Dutton has commissioned a review of Labor’s troubled Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) project. It’s unclear whether the review committee is to decide…
How many dealers did you visit before you last bought a car? Were you happy with the first quote you got for a painting job or kitchen renovation? When it comes to your finances, your house and your belongings…
Top contributors
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Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne
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Program Director, Health and Aged Care, Grattan Institute
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Brett Montgomery is a Friend of The Conversation.
Senior Lecturer in General Practice, The University of Western Australia
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Professor of Health Economics and Director, Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University
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General Practitioner, PhD Candidate, Bond University
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Reader in Health Economics, Centre for Health Economics, University of York
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Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland
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Senior Lecturer, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
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Professor of Health Economics, The University of Melbourne
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Associate, Grattan Institute
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David King is a Friend of The Conversation.
Senior Lecturer in General Practice, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Public Health, Bond University
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Research Fellow, Family Medicine Research Centre, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
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Senior Research Fellow (Hon), University of Sydney. Editor, Health Information Management Journal (HIMJ), University of Sydney
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Professor of Adolescent Health, Co-Head of the General Practice Clinical School, University of Sydney