| 27/07/2009 |
| By: Presswatch |
| NHS and Health Sector Summary |
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Thousands of patients could be denied NHS treatment and left to die under "worst-case" emergency plans for a swine-flu epidemic, claims the Daily Mail. The blueprint would force doctors to "play God" and prioritise intensive-care treatment for those most likely to benefit - ruling out patients with problems such as advanced cancer. Health experts called for calm yesterday following warnings that the NHS could be swamped by panicking parents, according to the Daily Mirror. Professor Terence Stephenson of the Royal College of Paediatricians said: "Health services struggle when they are overwhelmed by people who don't need to be there. Our first message to parents is to keep this in perspective and keep calm. There are 11 million children in England and 256 of them are in hospital [with swine flu]." The Metro reports that Britain is spending less than any other major European country on the latest cancer drugs. The NHS bill for the treatments works out at just 60p a person, new figures show. Other countries spend at least three times as much and some eight times as much. |
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| 27/07/2009 |
| Financial Times |
| By: Presswatch |
| Response to swine flu had to wait, says health minister |
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Ministers defended themselves yesterday against claims of a tardy response to swine flu, disputing suggestions that the national telephone helpline had been set up too late. Gillian Merron, health minister, said yesterday: "Launching the service could only be done at the point where we moved from local outbreaks of swine flu to significant levels of infection across the country.'' Some of the highest rates of infection in the UK have been in low-income areas with immigrant populations such as Tower Hamlets in London - a parallel with high infection rates in Mexico and among native Indian populations. |
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| 27/07/2009 |
| The Independent |
| By: Presswatch |
| Dozens fall victim to side effects of swine flu drug |
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The agency that licenses medicines in Britain has received 150 reports of suspected adverse reactions to the Tamiflu treatment for swine flu. The figure was released yesterday as GPs said some patients were choosing not to take the drug because of concern about the possible side effects. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the 150 reports received within the UK up until 23 July mention 241 separate side effects, most of which were mild and already recognised as linked with the anti-viral drug. |
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| 27/07/2009 |
| The Guardian |
| By: Presswatch |
| Fast-tracked swine flu vaccine will be safe, officials insist |
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The World Health Organisation has raised concerns about the fast-track production of the swine flu vaccine in Europe, where the treatment is due to be made available at least two months earlier than in the US. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is accelerating the approval process for the vaccine, and countries including Britain, where GlaxoSmithKline is producing the vaccine, plan to start using it as soon as it is cleared. To ensure the vaccine is available as soon as possible, the EMA is allowing companies to bypass large-scale human trials. The US government is taking a more cautious approach, calling for several thousand volunteers to be injected with the vaccine in tests beginning in August to assess its safety. |
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| 27/07/2009 |
| The Guardian |
| By: Presswatch |
| Calories in iced coffees "raise risk of cancer" |
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The World Cancer Research Fund has warned that iced versions of normal coffee such as frappuccinos contain so many calories that they increase people's chances of becoming overweight, the second biggest cause of cancer after smoking. survey of iced coffees sold by high street chains Starbucks, Caffe Nero and Costa Coffee identified the worst culprit as the venti dark berry mocha frappuccino at Starbucks, which contains 561 calories. "This is the amount of calories you might expect to have in an evening meal, not in a drink," said Dr Rachel Thompson, science programme manager at the WCRF. |
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| 27/07/2009 |
| The Guardian |
| By: Presswatch |
| Review ban on paying IVF donors: watchdog |
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A ban on the sale of sperm and eggs should be reviewed to help cut the number of childless British couples who travel abroad for treatment, according to Lisa Jardine, the head of the UK's fertility watchdog. Jardine, who took charge of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in April 2008, told the Times: "I'm not saying the decision arrived at before I became chair wasn't the right one at the time, but given the evidence that egg shortage is driving women overseas, I feel a responsibility to look at it again." |
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