Healthcare
Explainer
Healthcare
‘Disorders of consciousness’: The million-dollar question and the mysteries of coma
An “acute brain failure” jettisons a patient, their doctors and families into an anxious twilight zone. How aware is a person in a coma? And how are decisions made in the face of uncertainty?
- by Jackson Graham
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The unusual plan to reverse the long-running sperm and egg drought
In a bid to help hundreds of patients wanting to start a family, the state government has launched a campaign to encourage Victorians to donate their sperm and eggs.
- by Henrietta Cook
The virus soup that’s making Victorians so sick
Xavier complained of a headache. Within hours, he was having seizures in hospital. The five-year-old is one of the rising number of Victorians falling victim to the flu, COVID-19 or RSV.
- by Henrietta Cook and Melissa Cunningham
St John Ambulance drivers told to hit the brakes
St John Ambulance has reduced the maximum speeds its drivers can reach while responding to life-threatening emergencies.
- by Michael Genovese
Virus soup: The five things making Sydney sick
Influenza and COVID-19 are spreading rapidly in NSW, but they are not our only problem.
- by Megan Gorrey
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Patient seriously harmed after equipment fails during heart surgery
Between July 2021 and June 2022, 151 people died because of preventable errors in Victorian hospitals, according to data obtained by The Age.
- by Aisha Dow
Queensland doctors demand answers over end-of-life care funding
The Australian Medical Association’s Queensland branch has made 14 submissions to the Miles government ahead of the June state budget, asking for further investments in palliative care amid uncertainty over the allocation of previous funds.
- by Fraser Barton
The helping hand that taught Shae how to connect with her baby
Shae Bradshaw had hoped once her baby daughter was born all her fears about being a failure as a mother would disappear.
- by Melissa Cunningham
When Anna is called to deliver a baby, the birth plan has not gone to plan
More than 600 babies are born before their arrival at hospital each year, and a new program pairs midwives with paramedics to better manage care.
- by Mary Ward
A miracle solution for some, ‘barbaric’ for others. The truth behind the boom in cutting babies’ tongues
The number of babies having tongue-tie releases in Australia has skyrocketed over the past two decades. But debate continues to rage about the merits of the procedure.
- by Henrietta Cook
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Arden’s electrical issues were known three years before shock hospital move
Authorities knew in 2021 that electromagnetic waves from Metro Tunnel trains were a risk to Arden’s recently scrapped hospital towers.
- by Henrietta Cook, Rachel Eddie, Kieran Rooney and Aisha Dow