Concern over the choice of antlvenom for “false king brown snake” bites and a plea for a name change

identified by Cohen et al for NPT by general practitioners (GPs) depends on one instead of two GP visits. However, complete lipid evaluation, as detailed in the Consensus Statement on Management of Hyperlipidaemia," requires a fasting sample," which would necessitate a second visit. Most consultations in the study were for follow-up; a full lipid profile on a fasting sample could be made available by simply requesting the test from a local laboratory before the visit. In the Australian population, 80% of individuals will have normal results of a cholesterol screening test." This outcome can be relayed by phone without the need for a second consultation. 2. Accuracy ofmethods: Significant international effort has been made to achieve .3% precision for serum cholesterol resting." There is evidence that this precision might not be achieved by measurement with the Retlotron (Boehringer Mannheim)." Furthermore, high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels are even more prone to imprecision. 3. Financial interest in test ordering: An important argument is the financial interest of an ordering clinician who is also the provider of the test. GPs who perform NPT have to recover the cost of registration, consumables and equipment, as well as overheads (including the cost of the review by the National Association of Testing Authorities). There is clearly an incentive to perform tests to cover costs or even to generate (b)