NDA Journal 4 Featured Article Australian Doctors Have Been Warned They “Are Obliged To” Follow Public Health Messages By Medical Indemnity Protection Society* Doctors are now being warned they “must” follow public health messages even if those messages contradict independent peer reviewed research on what is best for patients. Doctors could face discipline for saying anything that contradicts “public health messaging,” even if what they are saying is “evidence-based.” They may also face investigations for “authoring papers” that health authorities do not approve of. Australian doctors can face disciplinary investigations for medical errors or other problems. In Australia, those investigations are called “notifications” by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency. Doctors were warned that to avoid APHRA notifications, they needed to “be very careful” not to contradict “public health messaging,” including in social media. But the warning went further. It also cautioned against “authoring papers” that contradicted the authorities’ favored views. 0 *The Medical Indemnity Protection Society provides professional liability insurance coverage for doctors. MIPS does not speak officially for government agencies.
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