The draft heads for inclusion in the Health Information Bill (HIB) to facilitate adverse event reporting and open disclosure have been finalised, Hawkins House has stated.

Ireland has received four notifications of infringement proceedings from the European Commission for failing to comply properly with their obligations in the area of health policy, IMT reports.

It is planned to progress phase II of the national electronic GP referral pilot project to develop an integrated computerised solution between primary and secondary care, allowing GPs’ practice management systems to communicate with hospital patient administration systems, IMT has established.

Dr William Ralph returned recently from Australia to resign from his Irish practice, having tasted a very different way of life and professional practice Down Under.

Dear Editor, In response to your recent article ‘Life ‘preserved’ after termination’ (IMT, August 29, 2014), in pregnancy, Irish medicine has a long-held tradition of treating both patients: the expectant mother and her developing child.

Ailbhe Jordan speaks with Viennese gastroenterologist Prof Walter Reinisch during a trip to Ireland about optimising the use of current treatment options in moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.

Dr Shelagh Wright PhD, retired lecturer in Psycho-oncology at the School of Nursing and Human Sciences DCU and Facilitator in Pain Management, reports on the Irish Pain Society’s recent Annual Scientific Meeting in Dublin, which concentrated on the classification and management of orofacial pain.

Following the resignation of former IMO President Dr Paula Gilvarry, Dr Ruairi Hanley suggests the IMO could do more to stop the run of negative headlines and improve members’ morale.

The development of common diabetes complications that can lead to blindness and amputations could be reduced by taking statins, indicates new research published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Low doses of fish oil may help curb the frequency of epileptic seizures when drug treatment no longer works, suggests a small study published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.