8 NEWS
8 NEWS
18 JULY 2025 ausdoc. com. au
THINK
TRIPLE
*
THINK
TRIMBOW1
* Trimbow is the only triple therapy PBS listed for severe asthma in two strengths and COPD( 100 / 6 / 10) 2
Trimbow 100 / 6 / 10 & 200 / 6 / 10 are indicated for maintenance treatment; in adults with asthma not adequately controlled with a maintenance combination of medium dose or high dose ICS / LABA respectively, and who experienced ≥1 exacerbation( s) in the previous year. Trimbow 100 / 6 / 10 is indicated in adults with moderate to severe COPD who are not adequately treated by ICS / LABA or LABA / LAMA. 1
Please review Product Information before prescribing. Product Information is available by scanning the QR code.
NEW PBS LISTING
FOR SEVERE
ASTHMA 2
PBS Information: Authority required( STREAMLINED). Severe Asthma. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease( 100 / 6 / 10 mcg presentation only). Criteria Apply. Refer to PBS for full information.
Abbreviations: COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ICS: inhaled corticosteroid; LABA: long-acting beta 2 agonist; LAMA: long-acting muscarinic antagonist; PBS: Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme; pMDI: pressurised metered dose inhaler. References: 1. Trimbow Approved Product Information. 2. Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme( PBS). www. pbs. gov. au. Chiesi Australia Pty Ltd, Hawthorn East, VIC. 3123, Australia. Tel: + 61 3 9077 4486; Fax: + 61 3 8672 0792; Email: medinfo. au @ chiesi. com. Copyright © Chiesi 2025. All rights reserved. Date of preparation: January 2025. AU-TRI-2500008. CHIE00211C.
Vax expert on being sacked by RFK Jr
The cull of advisers leaves a murky future, Professor Noel Brewer says.
Jamie Thannoo PROFESSOR Noel Brewer realised that Robert F Kennedy Jr had fired him when he read the news.
“ None of us were expecting this could happen,” said the public health physician, who was‘ retired’ from the US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices( ACIP) in June.
Mr Kennedy, the US Health Secretary, had used a Wall Street Journal editorial to announce he was sacking all 17 committee members to restore“ public trust”, claiming they were compromised by pharmaceutical industry influence.
ACIP is comparable to ATAGI in Australia— except that, in the US, insurance companies must cover the cost of ACIP’ s recommended vaccines or they are covered by the US Federal Government’ s Vaccines for Children program.
Shortly after sacking Professor Brewer, Mr Kennedy nominated eight new committee members, including Dr Robert Malone, who has claimed that COVID-19 vaccines cause a form of AIDS.
Among their first decisions was to recommend against the use of influenza vaccines from the schedule containing thiomersal, the ingredient anti-vaxxers have falsely linked to autism.
They also planned to re-evaluate the“ cumulative effect” of the childhood vaccine schedule.
The decision was based on the debunked notion that the immune system of children was at risk of being‘ overwhelmed’ by multiple vaccinations.
Speaking before the first meeting, Professor Brewer, from the University of North Carolina, refused to criticise the new members.
“ I would not want someone to talk about me like that,” he told Australian Doctor.
“ It seems wrong. Whether or not I agree with the conclusions this committee makes, I would sincerely like to be able to sit down and talk with any of them.”
His worry was that the committee had been almost halved in size, with only one of the new members— paediatric infectious diseases specialist Professor Cody Meissner— having experience on ACIP.
“ This is not a slow-moving committee,” he said.“ This is fast, with a very large workload.”
Professor Noel Brewer.
‘ I am not a political creature; I am a scientist.’
In his time, the committee set up working groups that would analyse research, come to a consensus and present their view to the whole committee for a final vote.
The data analysis alone was an immense task.
“ Literally, how do you sit through a presentation with 140 slides in half an hour and make anything of it when each of those slides could easily have been 20 minutes at a conference?” Professor Brewer said.
“ It is a phenomenal amount of information that you have to digest quickly and be ready to offer an opinion on.”
He said a smaller committee meant less confidence that ACIP was assessing vaccines rigorously, contradicting Mr Kennedy’ s stated goals.
Regarding claims of industry influence, Professor Brewer said ACIP’ s rules on conflicts of interest were“ among the most stringent and transparent” of federal committees.
“ I do not think most normal people know what ACIP is, so to say they were concerned we were influenced by companies— I do not think that is true.”
It was unclear whose advice doctors could follow if they lost trust in ACIP, he said.
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced in June that it would convene local experts to review the new ACIP committee’ s recommendations and their“ alignment with the latest scientific and epidemiological evidence”.
“ Many Illinois clinicians no longer feel comfortable that the decisions coming from the US Federal Government are following the robust scientific processes that are in the best interests of their patients,” said the department’ s director, Dr Sameer Vohra.
Professor Brewer said he was unsure what he wanted to see happen politically.“ I am not a political creature; I am a scientist,” he said.“ But giving platforms to people in favour of vaccines, who are doing good research and developing communities of people who are pro-vaccine, seems a good idea.”
His advice to US doctors on the front line was to address the concerns of vaccine-hesitant patients head-on.
“ If a patient feels you have a conflict of interest, tell them:‘ I am your doctor. I do not have a conflict of interest. But I read these papers and look out for conflicts of interest— let’ s talk about them.’
“ A bad consult is one where a patient has concerns, does not voice them, takes a vaccine and resents it.”
Sports physicians get higher MBS rebates
Ciara Seccombe AUSTRALIA‘ s 172 sports and exercise physicians have been reclassified as consultant physicians, increasing the Medicare funding for their initial consultations from $ 98.95 to $ 174.50. The change follows years of lobbying from the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians( ACSEP).
The MBS Review Advisory Committee recommended the reclassification in 2024, saying ACSEP’ s training program was comparable to that of the Royal Australasian
College of Physicians. The Federal Government approved the change in June.
Sports and exercise medicine was recognised as a new medical specialty back in 2009, at the same time as sexual health medicine and addiction medicine.
BRIAN STRICKLAND
Robert F Kennedy Jr.
HIE00211C ADG TrImbow third vertical 80x375mm _ FA. indd 1 28 / 1 / 2025 10:28 am