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James DowlingScience and Health Reporter

James Dowling is a reporter in The Australian’s Sydney bureau. As an intern at The Age he was nominated for a Quill award for News Reporting in Writing for his coverage of the REDcycle recycling scheme. When covering health he writes on medical innovations and industry.

James Dowling

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EXCLUSIVEMedical

Many Australian Association of Practice Management members say they will not become a fully bulk-billing practice as a result of extra incentives on the table for GPs.

Medical body slams PM’s bulk-billing promise as ‘smoke and mirrors’

Labor’s centrepiece Medicare policy promising most patients will be able to see a doctor for free has been discredited as a ‘utopian vision’.

Natasha Robinson and James Dowling

Media trialMedia

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos, February 28, 2025 . Antoinette Lattouf speaking to the media in front of the federal court, in Sydney : Picture: NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

Nine embroiled in ABC v Lattouf over alleged contempt

A cadre of pro-Israel lobbyists who pushed for radio anchor Antoinette Lattouf to be sacked have accused Nine of being ‘unapologetic and unrepentant’ after allegedly exposing them in breach of a suppression order.

James Dowling

ExclusiveMedical

Associate Professor Tony Walton led The Alfred team who did the first surgery in Victoria to use this device to replace a leaky mitral valve without open heart surgery.

What you think is fatigue or shortness of breath could be Heart Valve Disease

Almost half of all Australians at risk of heart valve disease have never heard of it. A pioneer in its treatment is calling for vigilance.

James Dowling

Mental healthMental Health

Ketamine as a nasal spray for treatment resistant severe depression was approved in 2021 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) but it is not on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) so it is prohibitively expensive. Picture: Supplied

Ketamine spray to fight depression

The federal government has bankrolled the use of an artificial ketamine nasal spray to combat treatment-resistant depression, providing treatment for those with ‘little hope’.

James Dowling

exclusiveNation

Former Plymouth Brethren Christian Church member Ben Woodbury. Picture: Instagram

Fringe religious devotees spotted among volunteers

Members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church have been spotted volunteering at polling booths despite their religion banning them from voting, with a former member alleging a national pattern.

James Dowling

ExclusiveHealth

Cancer Cell Lymphoma Immunotherapy Fat Diet 3D

Boost for lymphoma fight on home front

Lorna Hawkey, 84, has spent almost 30 years fighting blood cancer. Valuing independence above all else, she praised a newly subsidised at-home treatment.

James Dowling

National commemorationDefence

25-04-2025 - Sam Wilmot, who served in Afghanistan and UAE, stopped for an interview after the 9am ANZAC March, Sydney. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers / The Australian

Respect forged by family service

For Sam Willmott, enlistment was a fulcrum that shifted his understanding of Anzac Day, family and country.

James Dowling

Anzac Day 2025Nation

Australian and New Zealand soldiers pay their respects during a ceremony in recognition of the fallen during the Gallipoli campaign at the Cape Helles British memorial site in the Gallipoli peninsula near Canakkale, Turkey, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Uniform response in honouring debt and defying ‘the erosion of time’

It was sunny in the west, chilly in the national capital. Hot and steamy up there in Townsville, overcast in Sydney. The beauty of Anzac Day is that none of this mattered.

Jamie Walker, James Dowling and Kyle Rode

ExclusiveHealth

Stills from animation about Darzalex, , Federal Government funding for a, first-in-class medicine to treat a common and deadly form of blood cancer,, multiple myeloma, by activating the patient’s immune system to identify and kill, cancer cells,, From 1 January 2021, Darzalex® (daratumumab) will become available

‘They only get one chance’: drug for incurable cancer gets PBS approval

A newly subsidised immunotherapy for multiple myeloma presents the first chance for some patients to access such treatment.

James Dowling

ExclusivePolitics

Contender denies ALP ‘developer’ allegation

The Liberal challenger to Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has defended the legitimacy of a string of corporate holdings, despite Labor crying foul.

James Dowling

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/james-dowling