Health Report - Separate stories podcast

In the news:
In the United States, the FDA will now require GLP1 medications to carry package warnings about a rare side effect that causes blindness. The TGA made a similar change here a few months ago, but what is NAION and what do you need to know about it?

More results are published for drugs that were created to reduce LP(a), a cholesterol that is a precursor to heart disease and stroke risk, and the results are again not what was hoped. Where to from here?

Catholic health care provider Calvary Health's purchase of two NSW Hunter region hospitals means some services will no longer be available, including IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies, voluntary assisted dying, elective terminations of pregnancy, and gender reassignment procedures. 

References
FDA Requires Safety Labeling Changes for Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs) Due to Potential Increased Risk of Rare But Serious Eye Condition
TGA Medicine Safety Update: GLP-1 RAs and rare vision disorder
Health Report: Heart disease prevention drug fails at final hurdle
Interleukin-6 Inhibition with Ziltivekimab for Atherosclerotic Disease
Pelacarsen and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients with High Lipoprotein(a)
Calvary Health Care purchase of Newcastle Private Hospital and Hunter Valley Private Hospital

The TGA says 8 out of 12 medical scribe products being used by doctors in Australia may be affecting diagnostic and clinical decisions. These products must now go through the registration process as medical devices.
What does that mean for you as a patient as AI powered medical software gains more power in the consulting room?
Guest/s
Professor Enrico Coiera, Director of the Centre for Health Informatics at the Australian Institute for Health Innovation, Macquarie University
References
TGA - Digital Scribe review outcomes

Despite data showing younger people are drinking less, rates of hospitalisation for alcohol related liver diseases in that cohort are still higher than they were before the pandemic. 
What's behind these numbers and what can be done to reduce risk?
Guest/s
Associate Professor Michael Livingston, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University 
References
Alcohol-related liver disease epidemiology in Victoria
ABC News: Severe alcohol-related liver disease common in younger Australians

A comparison of twenty-one different anti-depressant medications showed they were more effective than placebo in adults with major depressive disorder. 
But some medications were found to be slightly more beneficial than others. How does that affect prescribing?
Guest/s
Dr Astha Tomar, President, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
References
Comparative efficacy and acceptability of 21 antidepressant drugs for the acute treatment of adults with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and network meta-analysis - The Lancet

A look at some of the Health Report correspondence this week.
You can email us at healthreport@abc.net.au