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    Michael Smith

    Health editor

    Michael Smith is the Health Editor for The Australian Financial Review. He is based in Sydney. Connect with Michael on Twitter. Email Michael at michael.smith@afr.com

    Michael Smith

    Today

    CSL chief executive Paul McKenzie.

    CSL posts bumper profit but top-line growth to slow

    The biotech giant says margin recovery at its core blood products business will enable it to produce double-digit earnings growth for the next half a decade.

    Yesterday

    Health Minister Mark Butler faces the thorny issue of approving insurance premium rises ahead of an election.

    Pressure for health premium overhaul in election headache for Albanese

    The influential medical lobby is demanding an independent umpire to determine how high insurance premiums can rise as negotiations over the next increase begin.

    Chemist Warehouse is expected to sell off part of its store network to convince the ACCC that the merger will not lead to higher prices for consumers.

    Competition regulator delays $8.8b Chemist Warehouse deal approval

    The ACCC is undertaking more analysis of the transaction, which would merge the pharmacy giant into Sigma Healthcare. A decision won’t be made until October.

    This Month

    Former banker Peter Hunt and JJ Wilson, the 35-year-old son of billionaire Chip Wilson, who founded the Lululemon yoga apparel empire, are pioneering the psychedelic treatment industry in Australia.

    Psychedelics as a serious investment? These billionaires think so

    Australia is among the first countries to use the drugs for treating anxiety, depression and PTSD. A decision in the United States could be pivotal.

    Pfizer’s Australian boss Anne Harris says more funding is needed to give Australians access to drugs to counter fatal superbugs.

    Pfizer invests $150m in Melbourne to fight superbugs

    The US pharma giant says the federal government must do more to ensure Australians can access new drugs designed to fight deadly superbugs.

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    Ramsay Health Care says full-year earnings will be weaker than expected, highlighting the challenges facing new chief executive Ntalie Davis.

    Ramsay tips lower earnings, hospital capex weak

    Ramsay Health Care says full-year earnings will be weaker than expected as it flags writedowns on its European operations.

    Dr Rachel David, chief executive of Private Healthcare Australia, says a push to collective boycott insurers will hurt regional Australia

    Hospitals seek right to boycott big insurers from funding talks

    Catholic-operated private hospitals want a major shake-up of the way they negotiate funding deals with health insurers, in an escalation of tensions between the two sides.

    ResMed chief executive Mick Farrell in the dual-listed company’s headquarters in San Diego.

    ResMed says sales growth defies weight-loss fears

    Chief executive Mick Farrell says he is confident the company has put to bed investor fears that weight-loss drugs will hurt sales of its sleep apnoea products.

    July

    Health Minister Mark Butler and Ramsay Health Care’s Australia boss, Carmel Monaghan, are key figures in working to resolve the financial crisis in private hospitals.

    Inside the stoush between private hospitals and health insurers

    As finances deteriorate, insurers and providers are slugging it out over how to overhaul a healthcare system which has not seen serious reform in decades.

    Telix CEO Christian Behrenbruch has upgraded 2024 revenue forecasts.

    Telix shares hit new high on upgraded revenue forecast

    The biotech’s shares double in value this year due to strong sales in the United States for its prostate cancer imaging product.

    Ramsay’s French asset posts weaker earnings, launches debt refinancing

    The healthcare provider says lower government subsidies and inflation are hurting the performance of its Ramsay Sante business.

    April

    Monk Shiei Yamagami guides visitors through their temple stay near the city of Hamamatsu, 90 minutes from Tokyo.

    For the full zen, stay at an ancient temple in Japan

    Our writer bypasses the hotels and ryokans to spend a night as a guest of Buddhist monks. He didn’t anticipate the wooden stick, though.

    Japanese media interview a CEO in Tokyo.

    Japan’s ‘cowardly’ media fails to take on corporate giants

    As he leaves Japan as the AFR’s North Asia correspondent, Michael Smith reflects on a media that is often too scared to hold its government and CEOs to account.

    • Updated
    Michael Smith (and dog Huey) outside his compound in Shanghai during China’s first lockdown in February 2020.

    In six and a half years I witnessed a dark pivot in China

    When I first landed in Shanghai on a freezing winter’s night in January 2018, China felt like a place bursting with optimism and opportunity.

    The man who cracked Japan’s crime gangs is back for a sequel

    Jake Adelstein’s Tokyo Vice exposed Japan’s yakuza. Now he’s out of police protection and releasing a new book.

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    Speaking to the media outside his Toowoomba home, Andrew Cauchi said he and his wife loved and supported their son, Joel, but his mental illness eventually fractured their relationships.

    ‘I’m loving a monster’: Cauchi’s dad speaks out

    The parents of killer Joel Cauchi are “heartbroken” for victims of the Bondi attack, saying they believe their son was in a psychosis when he murdered six people.

    • Updated
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    Red tape warning despite booming Japan-Australia deals

    Japanese investment in Australia is rising, but a new report shows data is mixed, and Australia is warned about policy uncertainty and delays in approving deals.

    Japan is finally waking up from its lost decades. Can it last?

    The country is doing defence deals and its economy is powering up. But it has a fight on its hands to keep the momentum going given its structural challenges.

    • Updated
    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in November.

    Chinese Premier Li Qiang tipped to visit Australia in June

    If confirmed, a June visit by Mr Li would follow Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit last month and China’s decision to lift tariffs on Australian wine.

    China is becoming more isolationist, data shows, despite improving ties with Australia.

    The data that reveals the truth about Australia’s China ties

    Although Australia’s relations with China have warmed, key metrics show economic ties are at their lowest levels in more than five years and are unlikely to bounce back.