Lawyers for insurance companies are being criticised for seeking irrelevant medical records from claimants in a bid to over-ride doctor discretion, The Sydney Morning Herald writes.   

Medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten is to open a ‘superclinic’ at a Melbourne four-star hotel, says the Herald Sun.   

Impotence clinic chain, the Advanced Medical Institute has come under fire in a parliamentary inquiry for its telephone consults and controversial treatments, paving the way for a crackdown, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.   

New emergency department beds at Armadale-Kelmscott Hospital are being used for storage because of a lack of staff, says The West Australian.   

Shopping centre Santas are demanding swine flu vaccination before they will see children, says the Herald Sun.   

GPs should be given greater access to the Mt Gambier Hospital, say opposition politicians in The Border Watch.   

A temporary GP clinic set up in Kinglake after the February bushfires may be a long-term solution to meet the town’s medical needs, the Whittlesea Leader says.   

Victorian paediatric surgeon Professor Paddy Dewan, who faces suspension for operating without informed consent, has been supported by testimonies from carers of  separated conjoined twins this week, says The Age.   

Surgeons at MonashHeart performed an Australia-first operation for atrial fibrillation to place a catheter in the left atrial appendage, says The Age.   

GPs are losing the war against the corporatisation of primary care centres, say doctors in the Newcastle Herald.   

People exposed to asbestos in NSW are being encouraged to undergo medical screening at the Dust Diseases Board or the mobile Lung Bus, says The Daily Telegraph.   

The WA premier has played down concerns that problems in the health system are putting the forecast budget surplus in doubt, saying it had been under pressure from swine flu and an ageing population, the ABC reports.   

The Victorian government has sealed a deal to save Sea Lake's health service, hours before the north-west Victorian town's residents were due to jump on buses for a protest on Parliament's steps, The Age reports.