Your regulators will protect you

Controversial GP Michael Tait is under investigation over allegations he diagnosed a woman as a hypochondriac even though she was keter found to be riddled with tumours, and tried to put her on a $2000-a-month anti-ageing therapy. For 15 months, Elizabeth Orchard consulted the New Zealand and British-trained GP - now facing deregistration over his unconventional treatment of 150 terminally ill cancer sufferers - as her health deteriorated after she collapsed on the family farm in the Gold Coast hinterland. Dr Tait, who ran a GP practice alongside his Gold Coast anti-ageing clinic, was the only doctor they could find on the day of her February 2002 collapse.

According to the 57-year-old former businesswoman - who Sydney doctors later discovered had a 7.5cm-wide benign brain tumour and seven breast tumours - Dr Tait was more interested in putting her on human growth hormones, which he has since been convicted of illegally importing and selling. Despite having paralysis in one of her legs, increasingly blurred vision, bleeding from her breasts and memory loss - even forgetting her son's name - Ms Orchard said the only tests Dr Tait ordered during scores of visits were a back X-ray and an abdominal ultrasound, at her request.

Ms Orchard said she was required by her income protection insurer to have Dr Tait oversee her treatment and provide progressive reports for her benefits. In 2003, Dr Tait ruled her fit for work, leading to her benefits being cut off despite her being bedridden. "I sought opinions from other doctors but unbeknown to me, they were consulting Dr Tait, because he was my official doctor for the insurance policy," she told The Weekend Australian. "He was telling them that I had already had every necessary test possible and nothing abnormal had showed up. So no one took me seriously. He was repeatedly dismissive of my problems, my symptoms and called me a hypochondriac."

Ms Orchard said that, in June 2004, her mother paid for her to undergo a brain scan in Sydney. "They found a massive tumour in my brain and the doctors told me I had about two weeks to live, without surgery, because it had reached critical mass," she said. "The doctors told me it was an old tumour, probably 10 years or older. "I then underwent a 9 1/2-hour operation for the brain tumour and had a later operation to remove 5kg of breast tissue." Ms Orchard said she faced further operations and had ongoing seizures and a shortened life expectancy.

She is currently receiving legal advice over her treatment and last year made a complaint to the Medical Board of Queensland, but she said she was disappointed it was yet to take action. A spokesman for Dr Tait yesterday refused to comment. Authorities last week filed an action in Queensland's Health Practitioner's Tribunal against Dr Tait over his "unconventional" therapies. Some of his patients - including the late soccer legend Johnny Warren - allegedly paid up to $20,000 for treatment. In 2006, Dr Tait was convicted on nine charges of obtaining and selling a restricted drug, for which he was fined $9600.

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Tasmania's 'deadly' government health-care system slammed by doctors

TASMANIA'S healthcare system is dangerous and is putting lives at risk, says the Australian Medical Association's state president. Haydn Walters says unless the $25 million bonus hospital funds promised by the Federal Government this week are spent opening beds, people will die. He said the money must be used to make the state's deadly healthcare system safe. "We have a very ragged, degraded healthcare system and it puts lives at risk," he said.

Dr Walters said surgeries were delayed because there were not an adequate number of beds to admit patients post-operatively. He said the equivalent of two wards of beds were closed at the Royal Hobart Hospital. "Beds have closed because we can't afford to open them, so without question the extra funding has to be spent on opening beds," he said.

Dr Walters said people with gall-bladder disease should have surgery within four to six weeks, but public patients in Hobart were waiting between nine to 12 months. "People with arthritis are forced to put up with the pain because they can't get in for surgery and gynaecology patients who are incontinent can't get in for reconstructive surgery at all," he said. "It is uncomfortable and unsafe in Tasmania at the moment if you don't have private health."

Dr Walters believes if beds were made available and proper staffing levels provided, the health system would be safer. "It will take the pressure off nursing staff, the emergency ward, the waiting lists -- and if we treat staff with respect, we will start to build a better public hospital system," he said.

Premier Paul Lennon said the allocation of the $25 million was a decision for Health Minister Lara Giddings and her department. Ms Giddings welcomed the additional funding but did not elaborate on how the money would be spent. Both Mr Lennon and Ms Giddings expressed disappointment that Tasmania receives only 31 per cent funding from the Commonwealth compared with 40 per cent received by Victoria. Ms Giddings said if Tasmania were to receive the same funding as Victoria, public hospitals would be $111 million better off each year. Tasmania will receive $217 million from the Commonwealth over 2007-08 with the state contributing $492.6 million, 36 per cent of the state's total Budget.

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Soft life in prison, courtesy of Queensland's kindly Leftist government

QUEENSLAND'S worst criminals spend their days watching latest-release DVDs, playing PlayStation games, listening to CDs and eating chocolate and chips. The perks enjoyed by inmates, who include murderers, rapists and pedophiles, have angered prison guards. Prisoners get up to seven new DVDs a week streamed free of charge over an internal channel on TVs in their cells. Other perks such as CDs, PlayStation games, lap-top computers and junk food must be paid for by the prisoners themselves - either through prison earnings of between $25 and $40 a week, an unemployment allowance of $20 a week, or a trust fund to which relatives can contribute up to $50 a week.

President of the Queensland Prison Officers Association Brian Newman yesterday said the Corrective Services department was making it "way too easy" for prisoners. "Our members see much more than the public could imagine in terms of the benefits afforded to prisoners without having to earn them," Mr Newman said.

But Debbie Kilroy, from prisoners' support group Sisters Inside, said people were sent to jail as punishment, not to be punished when they got there. Their punishment is being in prison," Ms Kilroy said. "It's always been a very blurry line for some prison officers how they are treated once they're in there."

Prisoners are not allowed to watch R-rated films, but MA (mature adults only) classified titles such as 30 Days of Night, Alpha Dog and Black Sheep are among those provided to prisons by Amalgamated Movies, a company licensed to supply films to correctional facilities and other closed institutions.

A Townsville-based prison officer said most people would be surprised to learn inmates were able to access such luxuries. "They can refuse to attend courses that address their offending behaviour, refuse to attend court if they don't want to see the victims, and just sleep in watching videos and eating junk food instead," the officer said. "Added to this they get sport every day, guitar lessons and art and craft."

Queensland Corrective Services confirmed prisoners were able to purchase a range of items such as sports shoes, chips and chocolates as "privileges". "Depending on a prisoner's behaviour, their access to these items can be removed by Corrective Services staff," a spokesman said. QCS also confirmed DVDs were streamed free of charge to televisions hired by the prisoners for $2 a week. "All prisoners in Queensland correctional centres are locked down for 12 hours each day, from 7pm to 7am. Because of this extensive lock-down period, televisions are made available to assist in occupying prisoners during this time,in turn contributing to the safety and security of the centre," the spokesman said.

But Catholic Prison Ministry co-ordinator David Martin said it was not fair to suggest prisoners spent their days lounging in their cells, watching DVDs and scoffing junk food. "There's a lot of disillusionment, there's boredom, there's isolation. It's a tedious life with no work and it can only lead to unrest. It's not conducive to them being rehabilitated," Mr Martin said. He said prisoners could earn money for work in jail, and were entitled to spend it in fortnightly "buy-ups". "There has been no increase in the remuneration for prisoners but we've seen items like hair brushes increase from $2.59 to $12.51 in 12 months," he said.

Prisoners' Legal Service co-ordinator Matilda Alexander said there was no real benefit to anyone for a prisoner to be left staring at the walls of a jail cell. "What's the advantage of having someone sit in a cell, who wants a job but there's not enough jobs to go around, who wants to do a program but there's not enough places - why begrudge them some form of entertainment?" she said.

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Bikini the new feminist symbol (?)



FORGET burning bras - today's young self-styled feminists prefer to show their girl power in a skimpy swimsuit. At least they do if they're participants in one of Australia's biggest bikini pageants being held next week on the Gold Coast. Entrants in the annual Ralph Australian Swimwear Model of the Year contest insist they were not merely sex objects.

Serial pageant entrant Ilia Valdez, 20, said far from demeaning and objectifying women, the quests empowered them. "There are always going to be people out there who say what we do isn't right, and that it's going to be degrading for women and such," said Ms Valdez, a finance manager with a boutique investment firm. "What I have to tell them is that it's the complete opposite. It builds women's self-confidence and strength and it helps if you want to get into the media industry - there are so many avenues it opens up ." Ms Valdez said while there was some bitchiness, relations between quest rivals were "generally great".

Another avid swimwear pageant entrant, Gold Coast model Christie-Lee Sharpe, 24, said the events offered good prizemoney and perks. The Ralph pageant, promoted by the national men's magazine, boasts $50,000 in cash and prizes. This year the finalists also will audition for a spot on Neighbours. "Sex sells and I think it's a case that if you've got it, flaunt it - I'm not going to look like this forever," Ms Sharpe said.

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