Monthly media digest: October/November 2026

Call for shingles vaccine funding

FPM New Zealand National Committee chair Dr Charlotte Hill was interviewed live on Radio New Zealand’s breakfast show Morning Report following an FPM media release calling for shingles vaccination to be fully funded for people aged 65 and over.

Dr Hill noted that Australia already funded shingles vaccination for everyone aged 65 and over and said matching the policy in New Zealand would be a sensible step.

“With more than one in four New Zealand adults already living with chronic pain, we cannot treat our way out of this problem.

“We need to put funding into prevention. Preventing chronic pain protects people’s health, function and independence and reduces pressure on primary care, hospitals and pain services.”

Dr Hill was also interviewed for news bulletins on Mediaworks and NewstalkZB, and appeared in multiple online news publications and in the print version of the Otago Daily Times.

Pentobarbital effects explained 

Professor Dave Story was interviewed for an article in The Australian (paywalled) on 7 October about the drug pentobarbital in the wake of the failed execution attempt by Texan authorities.

Professor Story explained that other drugs in the same class as pentobarbital are used at times for surgery sedation in Australia.

“We use the drug thiopentone, which is a related drug, we are very careful to ensure that the drug does not leave the vein that’s been called extravasated,” he said.

In rare occasions where an incident did happen, Professor Story said emergency action was immediately taken.

“We’ll try and irrigate the site but in reality, if a patient has had a severe injury it will really require reconstructive surgeons, particularly plastic surgeons, to try and reconstruct the tissue.

“If you have large volumes, you may get significant tissue death and injury from these drugs being outside the vein and into the tissue.”

He said anaesthetists are trained to use ultrasound in patients who present with difficult-to-find veins; a practice that has existed in Australia for at least five years.

National Anaesthesia Day

ANZCA warning on surgery and GLP-1s, peptides

ANZCA President Dr Tanya Selak was interviewed by Australia's News Limited newspapers for print and online articles on 4 October warning people taking weight-loss drugs and peptides to be aware of gastric emptying complications.

ANZCA's media release highlighted the issue ahead of National Anaesthesia Day on 16 October.

The article was covered in print and online in The Herald Sun, the Sunday Mail (Qld), the Cairns Post, the Geelong Advertiser and the Sunday Tasmanian.  

The coverage continued on 7 October with extensive interest across the ABC, including an online article, an interview on Australia's national current affairs program AM, a live cross interview for ABC TV News Breakfast, and live interviews with ABC News Radio, ABC Radio's Sydney and Melbourne breakfast programs and 2GB radio news broadcasts. These radio interviews were syndicated across Australia.

ANZCA responds to article in The Age on rostering arrangements at Melbourne private hospitals.

An article published in The Age in print and online on 3 October referred to concerns raised about rostering arrangemtns at two Melbourne private hospitals for male and female anaesthrtists.

The article reported that while women anaesthetists secured just a fraction of the obstetric work at the two major private hospitals between August and April next year, they make up 36 per cent of ANZCA fellows and 43 per cent of trainees.

Dr Selak was quoted saying: “While we do not know the exact circumstances behind the rostering examples highlighted, gender disparities in the provision of anaesthesia services are concerning given our focus on this issue.”