Stories by Karen Brown

A campaign is being launched today aimed at reducing unnecessary medical tests and procedures.

The Breast Cancer Foundation wants a new drug extended to 160 women already receiving treatment.

A flu expert is calling for a rethink about who can receive the free flu jab as research shows many with the infection have no symptoms but can still spread the virus.

A psychiatrist's treatment of a man who was having suicidal thoughts, and who died after his second consultation, has been criticised as not adequate.

Bowel cancer screening will start in South Auckland and Otago-Southland in the next financial year.

Just one district health board is meeting the government's faster cancer treatment target.

Hundreds of lives are being saved as a result of a decrease in the time taken to see patients in emergency departments, new research has found.

One in four senior doctors and dentists intend to quit in the next five years because of workloads, pay and lack of job satisfaction, a survey suggests.

Eye specialists are frustrated about what they say is a lack of government action over a common eye disorder that can lead to blindness.

Doctors are being urged to test for a little-known STD which is often treated incorrectly because it has symptoms similar to Crohn's disease.

Clinical management problems have for the first time overtaken falls as the most frequently reported cause of patient harm in public hospitals.

Thousands of patients are waiting for follow-up eye appointments through the Counties Manukau District Health Board but it says they are not urgent.

Health authorities were warned nearly 18 months ago that patients risked losing their sight over long delays for treatment, an eye specialist says. Audio

Patients facing long waits for appointments at public hospital eye clinics are worried about losing their eyesight. Audio

A delay in ophthalmology services is nationwide and patients are going blind waiting for appointments, eye specialists say.

Some New Zealand medical students are practising vital invasive procedures on themselves, a study published today reveals.

DHB negotiators have taken a settlement proposal from junior doctors - who are threatening further strike action - back to their chief executives for a response next Wednesday.

A third attempt will be made to resolve differences between junior doctors and their employers over rosters.

It could take months for hospitals to catch up with the backlog of planned surgeries after a strike by junior doctors, a senior doctor says. Video

Junior doctors have begun strike action over a dispute about rosters, but the Health Minister says he has seen no objective evidence that their working hours are unsafe. Video, Audio

It appears surgeons are in no rush to embrace a new programme designed to improve teamwork in hospital operating theatres.

Emotional and graphic submissions about voluntary euthanasia have been given at a select committee hearing.

A doctor who wrote other people's names on prescriptions for sleeping pills and tranquillisers she wanted for herself has been found guilty of professional misconduct.

A radiologist who was under intense work pressure has been told to apologise for missing a lower back lesion associated with cancer.

Bullying of junior doctors who intend to strike is wrong, say district health boards, and they vow to take action on any cases they hear about.