The most recent poll of Iraqi views about the Coalition’s occupation of Iraq is fairly mixed news. However, one result I found slightly surprising when I read the report in The Independent was this:
By a 56-37 majority, Iraqis would prefer US and British troops to leave their country at once.
It appears that the question the [...]
The dangers of penetrating eye injuries when microwaving eggs is illustrated in the BMJ:
A 9 year old girl reheated a previously boiled egg (with an intact shell) using a domestic microwave oven at full power for about 40 seconds. The heated egg was removed from the microwave oven and placed in a bowl. Around 30 [...]
Attempts to increase smallpox vaccine stockpiles, in case of a terrorist attack, have hit a glitch due to safety concerns:
British biotechnology company Acambis plc has temporarily stopped recruiting volunteers for clinical trials of the cell-culture smallpox vaccine it is making for the US government because at least three cases of myopericarditis have occurred in one [...]
Another murder trial in healthcare:
A hospital nurse accused of attempting to murder four elderly patients was motivated by a drive to free up beds, a court has heard.
Barbara Salisbury overstepped the line between humane nursing and callous dispatch when she tried to hasten their deaths, Chester Crown Court was told.
An interesting snippet from DrugInfoZone about penicillin:
It is estimated that up to 60% of penicillin-allergic patients will experience another allergic event if given the drug again however these new data suggest that this rate is less than 2%. Researchers analysed data from more than 3 million patients on the UK General Practice Research Database, who [...]
The FDA have warned Janssen Pharmaceuticals their misleading risperidone (Risperdal) information. They did not disclose points about excess blood sugar and diabetes and minimised the risk of serious events including coma and even death in a letter to doctors.
Aside from the guidance for those too posh to push, NICE have issued two other interesting items that haven’t quite got the same media attention. The first is some guidance on the use of newer anti-epileptics in children, and the other guidance is for the treatment of insomnia notable for its comments about non-drug [...]
If you actually needed confirmation that North Korea is a deeply sick society, then this should be it:
Many North Koreans died a “heroic death” after last week’s train explosion by running into burning buildings to rescue portraits of leader Kim Jong-il and his father, the North’s official media reported on Wednesday.
…
“Many people of the county [...]
As a son of Blackburn, I can agree with this comment in this piece about Jack Straw:
“One can take the man out of Blackburn, but, evidently, not the Blackburn out of the man.”
In fact, Jack Straw handed me my O-level certificate to me many years ago. I saw him several times standing outside Marks [...]