Letters

Reducing particulate levels in our air should be a health priority

Ben D Ewald BMed, PhD

“Gluten-free” foods are not always gluten-free

Geoffrey M Forbes MB BS, MD, FRACP

The current legal situation helps neither patients nor doctors

Kerry J Breen MB BS, MD, FRACP · David Weisbrot BA(Hons), JD

Clinical care may be handicapped by older testing technology

Simon M Holliday BMed, FAChAM, FRACGP · Huy A Tran FRACP, FRCPA, MD

Overdependence on rapid response systems has not improved patient safety in hospitals

Michael D Buist FRACP, FCICM, MD

In reply: It's not overdependence, but a strong association of reduction in deaths and cardiac arrests with uptake of RRS

Kenneth M Hillman MD, FRCA, FCICM

Eliminating the disease in Indigenous communities depends on accurate data

Richard Speare BVSc, PhD, DVSc · Adrian Miller · Wendy A Page

Coordinated support from major national institutions is necessary

Peter Stewart · Raymond C Chan PhD, FRACP, FRCPA · Wendy Pryor PhD, FRCPA

GPs have an important role in communicable disease control

Catherine R Bateman-Steel MB ChB, BSc, MSc · Aditya Vyas MB BS, MPH · Leena Gupta MB BS, MPH, FAFPHM

One centre of research excellence is not sufficient to make a serious dent in the problem of suicide and self-harm in Australia

Helen Christensen MPsych(Hons), PhD, FASSA · Karolina Krysinska PhD · Sue Murray MStud(Ed), BEd

MRI is mostly unhelpful in diagnosing paediatric musculoskeletal complaints

Sam L Francis · Nicole Williams BMedSc(Hons), BMed, FRACS · Peter J Cundy MB BS, FRACS

Loss of clinical academic leadership will be to the detriment of patient care in Australia

Stephen Allison MB BS, FRANZCP · Tarun Bastiampillai MB BS, BMedSci, FRANZCP · Bernhard T Baune MD, PhD, FRANZCP

Remote Primary Health Care Manuals are developed with users in mind

Sandeep Reddy MB BS, MSc, MMgmt · Sally E Herring BA(Hons), DPsych(Clin)

Can the government afford to supply dental care to the whole Australian population?

Leonard A Crocombe BDSc,PhD, MBA

In reply: There are solutions that don’t rely on integrating dental health into Medicare

Lesley M Russell BSc(Hons), BA, PhD

Long-term rural undergraduate training also encourages city students to consider a country practice

Mark H Arnold MB BS, FRACP, MBeth

In reply: Consider an increase in the proportion of medical students with a rural background

Geoffrey C Nicholson PhD, FRACP, FRCP · Srinivas Kondalsamy-Chennakesavan MB BS, MPH, FRSPH

Direct-acting antiviral agents are expensive, but offer a chance of cure

William Sievert MD, FRACP · Homie Razavi PhD · Alexander Thompson MB BS(Hons), PhD, FRACP · Amany Zekry MB BS, PhD, FRACP · Gregory J Dore MB BS, FRACP, PhD · Stuart Keith Roberts MD, FRACP, FAASLD

Even small fees affect poor people's access to health services

Joel Lexchin MD

In reply: The findings of the Canadian experiment cannot be extrapolated to the Australian copayment debate

Michael Keane BM BS, FANZCA

The pitfalls in assessing patients’ decision-making capacity

Peter D Bastian MB BS, MPH, FRACP · Adeleen Eng MB BS · Linley A Denson MPsych, PhD · Lynn Ward PhD

Psychological and behavioural interventions that focus on building coping skills, resilience and a healthy lifestyle are important

Patrick D McGorry MD, PhD, FRANZCP · Debra J Rickwood BA(Hons), PhD, FAPS · Ian B Hickie MD, FRANZCP, FASSA

In reply: Evidence is needed that medical intervention does more good than harm for less than severe impairment

Jon N Jureidini MB BS, PhD, FRANZCP

A position statement from Coeliac Australia’s Medical Advisory Committee scrutinises the technology used in currently available kits

Evan D Newnham Jason A Tye-Din on behalf of the Coeliac Australia Medical Advisory Committee

This topic has garnered increased recognition in the eye care community

Enis D Kocak MB BS, BBiomedSci · Justin C Sherwin MB BS(Hons), BMedSc(Hons), MPhil · Anthony J Hall MD, FRANZCO, FRACS