The Health News – 26 May 2014

Overview

• Former Queensland assistant health minister Chris Davis has resigned as the LNP Member for Stafford on Brisbane’s northside.

• John All, a researcher from the University of Kentucky, was collecting snow samples on Mount Himlung, which is near Mount Everest, when he fell.

• The AMA National Conference has called for better care for Australian Defence Force personnel and veterans, including improved coordination between Government agencies, health services and doctors, and research to identify emerging health issues.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-23/chris-davis-resigns-as-qld-member-for-stafford/5473702?section=qld

Former Queensland assistant health minister Chris Davis has resigned as the LNP Member for Stafford on Brisbane’s northside.

Premier Campbell Newman has expressed disappointment at Dr Davis’s decision, and says he is considering dates for a by-election.

Dr Davis has told 7.30 Queensland he decided not to cross the floor on donation laws on Thursday night because it was made clear that the LNP would not tolerate the move.

But he says he had been planning to vote against the bill.

Dr Davis was sacked as assistant health minister last week after he spoke out against doctor contracts and changes to the Crime and Misconduct Commission.

At that time, Mr Newman said Dr Davis was dismissed for breaching Cabinet solidarity, although the Premier also called him a man of great integrity.

Mr Newman responded to the decision by suggesting he disagreed with Dr Davis’s decision to quit.

…

On Tuesday, Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney had said Dr Davis would remain in the LNP, after a party room meeting discussed the matter.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-24/us-climber-john-all-drags-himself-out-of-crevasse-in-nepal/5475450

Himalayan escape: US scientist John All films harrowing escape from crevasse in Nepal

An American academic has survived a harrowing, six-hour ordeal after falling 20 metres into a crevasse on a mountain in Nepal’s Himalayas.

John All, a researcher from the University of Kentucky, was collecting snow samples on Mount Himlung, which is near Mount Everest, when he fell.

His body ricocheted off the crevasse’s walls, breaking his arm and five ribs and dislocating a shoulder.

He spent five hours using an ice axe to drag himself out.

He eventually made it back to his tent, where he used Facebook to call for help.

https://ama.com.au/media/ama-pursue-better-care-defence-personnel-and-veterans

The AMA National Conference has called for better care for Australian Defence Force personnel and veterans, including improved coordination between Government agencies, health services and doctors, and research to identify emerging health issues.

The National Conference unanimously supported a motion committing the AMA to develop a policy to improve the health and wellbeing of Defence Force personnel and veterans following presentations from former Chief of Army Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, Navy psychiatrist Commodore Duncan Wallace and immediate past ADF-Reserves Surgeon General, Major General Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld.

Lieutenant General Leahy, Major General Professor Rosenfeld and Commodore Wallace spoke at the Conference’s Overseas Conflicts and Disasters: the challenge of caring for those who serve session, chaired by new AMA President Associate Professor Brian Owler.

Associate Professor Owler said that, since 1999, more than 45,000 Australians had served overseas, and many had paid a heavy price for their devotion to their duty.

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The Conference was told that in Afghanistan alone, 40 Defence personnel were killed and more than 260 wounded in action, many of them seriously.