Geir O'Rourke

Sydney

Political editor @the_limbic interested in health policy, Medicare etc. Recovering chef. Shower singer. Views mine. [email protected]

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Articles

New myelofibrosis treatment listed on PBS

4 weeks ago | thelimbic.com | Geir O'Rourke

Momelotinib is now available on the PBS for patients with myelofibrosis who have moderate to severe anaemia. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) recommended the listing after determining the JAK inhibitor demonstrated non-inferior effectiveness and safety compared to ruxolitinib, with specific benefits for anaemia management.
Is ‘rational compassion’ the answer to doctor burnout?

1 month ago | thelimbic.com | Geir O'Rourke

What exactly is burnout? And what truly causes it? Despite growing awareness of the issue in healthcare, these crucial questions remain surprisingly elusive. The next step of moving beyond burnout to foster fulfilment among health professionals feels further still. The statistics will be familiar to many. Even back in 2013, 32% of Australian doctors reported emotional exhaustion in a now-infamous beyondblue survey (link here).
Specialists divided on AF management in advanced kidney disease

2 months ago | thelimbic.com | Geir O'Rourke

Cardiologists and renal physicians diverge sharply on management of AF in advanced kidney disease, with key differences in prescribing of antithrombotic therapy and oral anticoagulation, local data show. The findings highlight significant gaps in multidisciplinary care and limited collaboration between specialties, despite growing evidence supporting integrated care approaches, the researchers say.
Spironolactone shows promise as first-line acne therapy

2 months ago | thelimbic.com | Geir O'Rourke

Adult women with moderate to severe acne are more than twice as likely to achieve successful resolution with spironolactone compared to placebo or doxycycline, a systematic review and meta-analysis indicates. Coupled with a favourable safety profile, the agent’s demonstrated efficacy positions it as a valuable alternative to antibiotics in the evolving approach to acne management, the authors say.
Immunotherapy priming shows promise in advanced FL

2 months ago | thelimbic.com | Geir O'Rourke

Immune priming with nivolumab followed by a nivolumab-rituximab combination achieves high response rates in previously untreated advanced follicular lymphoma, with manageable toxicity, Australian research has found. The novel approach based on PD-1 inhibitor priming followed by CD20-directed therapy rituximab combined with nivolumab potentially provides an effective and tolerable alternative to chemotherapy, results from a preliminary study suggest.
Real-world CDK4/6i use departs from trial population

Sep 4, 2024 | thelimbic.com | Geir O'Rourke

The absolute benefit of adjuvant CDK4/6 inhibitor therapy in Australian early breast cancer patients may be smaller than estimated in clinical trials due to differences in the respective populations, researchers say. It follows a registry study that found up to 18% of Australian patients with HR+ HER2- early breast cancer would be eligible for abemaciclib and 41% for ribociclib under criteria used for the respective pivotal trials for each of the two agents.
Vedolizumab gets PBS nod for chronic pouchitis

Sep 3, 2024 | thelimbic.com | Geir O'Rourke

Chronic pouchitis looks set to be added to the list of PBS indications for vedolizumab, following a positive recommendation by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC). Branded Entyvio, the agent was put forward for listing under the new indication by its importer, Takeda, under the Section 100 (Highly Specialised Drugs Program) at the PBAC’s meeting in July. Vedolizumab is an integrin antagonist that binds to the α4β7 integrin and blocks interaction with MAdCAM–1.
Lung cancer care transformed by MBS-funded next gen sequencing

Sep 2, 2024 | thelimbic.com | Geir O'Rourke

Comprehensive gene profiling is now established as standard of care in NSCLC, but is varying in its performance and application around Australia, medical oncologists say. Professor Nick Pavlakis of the University of Sydney told the the recent MOGA 2024 annual meeting in Sydney that availability of the broad-spectrum test represented a significant step in the evolution of personalised medicine in lung cancer, with major benefits over single gene sequencing.
DPP4i aids healing of diabetic foot ulcers

Sep 2, 2024 | thelimbic.com | Geir O'Rourke

The DPP4 inhibitor vildagliptin may promote diabetic foot ulcer healing by reducing autophagy in patients with diabetes, in addition to its effect on blood sugar levels, Australian research has found. Coming on the back of data indicating the gliptin improved healing by approximately 35% compared with placebo, the study suggests a novel pathway for its wound healing properties, Queensland investigators say.
Aussie team models MM prognosis, treatment pathways

Sep 1, 2024 | thelimbic.com | Geir O'Rourke

Australian experts have developed a validated myeloma model to provide personalised estimates of life expectancy based on patients’ specific characteristics, disease stage and response to treatment. Known as EpiMAP Myeloma, the tool also has use cases for policy-makers, who will be able to use it to perform economic evaluation to forecast of patient numbers, and to estimate downstream impacts of new therapies, its developers say.