National and International News
5.75m payout for birth blunder
A boy who was starved of oxygen at birth was awarded 5.75m damages by the High Court yesterday.
The Independent 20/12/03
Asthma in UK children double EU average
British children are twice as likely to suffer from asthma as those in other European countries, it has emerged.
The Guardian 22/12/03
Battered men get their own refuge
Britain's first safe house for battered men is to open in secret over the New Year. The refuge, in south-west England, will shelter men and their children who have been physically or emotionally abused by a female partner.
The Observer 21/12/03
Better British diet gives birth to mega baby
Babies are piling on the pounds in the womb. Improved health and diet among parents has led to a large increase in the number of so-called omega- babies across Britain.
The Times 21/12/03
Binge drinking: do they mean us?
Downing Street sounds alarm as young women start drinking as much as their male counterparts.
The Observer 21/12/03
Blair facing inquiry over NHS email
Tony Blair was facing calls last night for a full inquiry into how his local constituency hospital won a coveted three-star rating as it emerged that Downing Street was fully aware at the time that Alan Milburn had intervened to secure its status.
The Observer 21/12/03
CJD plan for personal blood banks
Patients may soon be encouraged to provide their own mini-blood bank before undergoing surgery to counter the danger of contracting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).
The Times 21/12/03
Drivers' delusions of capability
We all know the evils of drink-driving, amply demonstrated by the traditional Christmas advertising campaign. But why do so many of us still do it? A new survey by the Portman Group and the RAC provides some clues. The study asked 820 people whether they had driven after drinking. Around 30 per cent had and most said they had done it because they remained confident about their ability to drive safely. Other reasons given were I didn't think I'd get caught. I had no other way to get home and I was going through a bad time�.
The Times 20/12/03
Dirty bird better
The most stressful thing about Christmas? For one in three of us it’s the infernal process of cooking a traditional turkey lunch. That’s the message from a new study by the Food Standards Agency, which helpfully adds to our kitchen anxieties by pointing out some unexpected hazards in preparing poultry.
The Times 20/12/03
Discomfort and joy
When families gather at Christmas a time bomb often begins to tick. Our correspondent offers some advice on how to defuse problems and avoid an explosion.
The Times 20/12/03
Drugged up by fat cats
Are we getting the treatments we deserve? Treatments that are safe, effective and fit in with what we want? Almost certainly not, says an important report published this week, which calls for a radical overhaul of medical research priorities and funding.
The Times 20/12/03
'End to waiting list' for heart bypass patients
The waiting time for heart surgery has fallen to just three weeks in some parts of Britain, in what is seen as a ground-breaking example of how the NHS can cut into the queues for treatment.
The Observer 21/12/03
The Observer 21/12/03
Enjoy a drink, - but be wary
Forty years ago Christmas in a rural practice typified the medicine that provided the raw material for the TV series Dr Finlay’s Casebook. It was always a busy time, but we were never too busy to enjoy the hospitality offered by patients. Each cottage, farm or council house had a sideboard that creaked under the weight of bottles. In some homes the free-flowing alcohol produced such disinhibition that usually retiring people suddenly became argumentative: emotions better left buried surfaced, evoking tales of unrequited love, careless passion and, one memorable Christmas day, admissions of incestuous desire.
The Times 22/10/03
Failed asylum seekers lose free NHS care
Failed asylum seekers will be barred from free NHS treatment in a crackdown on 'health tourism'.
The Observer 21/12/03
Free digital medical programme is coming soon - but NHS TV is no ER
The NHS is to start broadcasting on its own digital television channel next year in an attempt to beam health information into the nation's living rooms.
The Guardian 20/12/03
Free test kits help curb sex disease
Home testing kits for a 'ticking timebomb' disease triggering infertility in young women are to be handed out in high street chemists in a bid to halt its spread.
The Observer 21/12/03
Glow with the flow
Cold remedies don't come any more decadent or cheering than a hot toddy.
The Times 20/12/03
Hair of the mouse
Hairs in the ears of mice may provide the key to reversing a common cause of hearing loss. Hairs in our inner ear respond to vibration and help to create nerve signals that we understand as hearing. As people age, one in ten loses these hairs — and their hearing. French and Swedish scientists, funded by the European Commission, have identified cells which create the hairs in mice. They hope to find such cells in humans and coax them into creating new hairs. The findings were presented to the American Society for Cell Biology’s conference last week.
The Times 20/12/03
Lighten up the darkest day
Well, what can you do about Christmas? Polls show half of us will be glad when the season is over and figures from the Samaritans show that many find it all devastatingly depressing. But if you confess you don’t enjoy it, or even dare to say you aren’t celebrating, you risk being lynched by a mob whose minds are addled by Slade, Sir Cliff Richard and all the strange propaganda of festive fascism.
The Times 20/12/03
Love that smell
It may be hard, but its time to be positive about poo. Parents potty training their children need to grin and bear it. A team from the University of Pennsylvania has found that if mums and dads avoided words like stink and smelly when referring to nappy content, their children were potty-trained much sooner.
The Times 20/12/03
New 'sex patch' will be the female Viagra
A controversial sex patch to be worn by women suffering from "female sexual dysfunction" is being developed in the United States and could be launched as early as next year with a $100m (57m) marketing campaign.
The Independent 21/12/03
NHS investigates £210m drugs sales
Seven drug companies secretly connived to raise the prices of prescription drugs by up to 700 per cent, documents seen by The Times appear to show.
The Times 22/12/03
The Guardian 22/12/03
The Independent 22/12/03
NHS sues over drug makers' 'rip-off'
The National Health Service is to sue seven major pharmaceutical companies for £30 million for allegedly fixing the price of one of Britain’s most common drugs.
The Times 22/12/03
Patients in intensive care wards at most risk from hospital superbugs
Patients in intensive care wards are particularly at risk of infection from so-called superbugs, a study has found.
The Indepndent 22/12/03
Pretty women turn men to goo
All it takes is a pretty face. Psychologists from McMaster University in Canada have found that something strange happens to a man’s mind when confronted with female beauty. His decision-making abilities dissolve into goo and his mind turns to immediate gratification rather than long-term gain.
The Times 20/12/03
Private firms to run family doctor services
Private companies are to be allowed to take over GP services in one of the biggest changes to the role of family doctors since the creation of the National Health Service.
The Times 20/12/03
Rats, drills and lawnmowers all drive Britons to hospital beds. And watch out for those pyjamas
The painful, peculiar ways in which thousands of Britons are consigned to a hospital bed each year are today laid bare by official statistics.
The Times 22/12/03
Seagrove loses bid to overturn ban on remedy
A campaign for herbal remedies led by the actress Jenny Seagrove failed yesterday in an attempt to overturn a government ban on kava kava, a natural tranquilliser.
The Independent 20/12/03
Second opinion
Has Britain's compensation culture gone too far? Newspapers carry almost daily reports of madcap claims. Yet the facts simply do not support the contention that compensation culture is out of control.
The Guardian 20/12/03
The mother of all our Christmases
“Of course, I still want to read The Night Before Christmas under the Christmas tree,� I say, looking firmly into my mother’s doleful eyes. Surrounded by tinsel and the gentle patter of falling pine needles, I will soon take up my annual position with Granny, Mum, sister, cats, dogs and a tattered copy of Clement Clarke Moore’s classic. Those able will take it in turns to read aloud, a page each, as we have done for the past 24 years, before going to bed on Christmas Eve.
The Times 20/12/03
Viagra doctor guilty of misconduct
A Harley Street doctor who sold Viagra over the internet without meeting patients was reprimanded yesterday after being found guilty of misconduct by the General Medical Council (GMC).
The Times 20/12/03
Wise men knew best
They were fantastic presents 2,000 years ago and they still do you a power of good. There’s increasing evidence of the medical value of gold, frankincense and myrrh — particularly for sore joints.
The Times 20/12/03
Cheshire and Mersey News
Cumbria and Lancashire News
Get fruity and stay healthy
The fight against heart disease, cancer and strokes in Blackpool has been boosted by a £150,000 initiative to promote fruit and veg.
Lancashire Evening Telegraph 19/12/03
Hospital treats car crime bug
Police have joined forces with Burnley General Hospital in a bid to reduce the risk of hospital visitors falling victim to vehicle crime.
Lancashire Evening Telegraph 19/12/03
MMR jab is vital, say health bosses
Health bosses in Bury are urging parents to have their children immunised with the MMR jab, despite a controversial programme screened on Channel 5.
Lancashire Evening Telegraph 19/12/03
Surgery set for closure
Health bosses are looking to provide alternative care for 800 patients at a Rossendale surgery that is set to close in the New Year.
Lancashire Evening Telegraph 20/12/03
Greater Manchester News
Girl recovers after transplant drama
A six-year-old girl at the centre of a dramatic heart transplant dash was today recovering in hospital after an operation.
Manchester Evening News 20/12/03
Nursery bug alert
A Rochdale nursery is at the centre of on outbreak of suspected meningococcal disease. Specialists in infectious disease control were contacting the families of children who attend Aunt Mary's Nursery in the Dell area of Rochdale after two children who attend the nursery became ill. The two children are responding to treatment but as a precaution, antibiotic treatment is being offered to the other 41 children and 10 staff at the nursery.
Bolton Evening News 20/12/03
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