doctors-and-medical-professionals

Superbugs: WHO says new drugs urgently needed to fight 12 bacteria families

The United National health agency said many of the bacteria have already evolved into deadly superbugs that are resistant to many antibiotics.

The bugs "have built-in abilities to find new ways to resist treatment" the WHO said, and can also pass on genetic material that allows other bacteria to become drug-resistant.

Governments need to invest in research and development if new drugs are to be found in time, because market forces cannot be relied upon to boost the funds needed to fight the bugs, it said.

Woman endures months of unnecessary chemo treatment after being wrongly diagnosed with cancer

The case was revealed in the latest annual report from the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission.

The report did not name the hospital in which it occurred, but the ABC understands the woman received treatment in the private sector in 2014-15.

The report said the woman was told she had stage four liver cancer by a surgeon who looked at her CT results, but did not order any other tests.

The surgeon referred the patient to an oncologist who recommended six months of chemotherapy without doing further tests.