Mick O’Connor and Bill Madden*
Australian age-related anti-discrimination laws prevent discrimination in the workplace on grounds of age alone. However, the ageing surgeon can face physical and cognitive challenges which may threaten patient safety. In 2023 8.4% of Australian surgeons and 8.8% of general practitioners were aged 70 years or older. On 7 August 2024, the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) ...

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Black box billing is a term for healthcare costs which are not transparent or poorly communicated to patients. Such billing can be incomprehensible to patients. Some authors assert that the ‘financial toxicity’ of medical care is a significant source of patient harm. It may lead to avoidance of medical care ,reticence to undergo surgery or other treatment ,poor compliance with postoperative medications especially in cancer care and perhaps changing providers to obtain more affordable but perhaps less effective treatment alternatives. 

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I well remember a maternal death from asthma in Dublin during a Caesarean section. The anaesthetists were devastated.

What may have caused that was the use of ergometrine after the baby was delivered. This is a risk factor for bronchoconstriction especially when general anaesthesia is combined.

In my experience that fact is not well appreciated by clinicians In Australia 12.7% of pregnant women suffer asthma.

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