Healthcare News Headlines - Yahoo! News UK

Consultant jailed after woman dies

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:27:42 +0100

A hospital consultant whose gross negligence led to the death of a mother-of-two has been jailed for two years.

Liver disease 'timebomb' warning

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:42:22 +0100

A national screening programme is needed to tackle the "ticking timebomb" of liver disease caused by alcohol, obesity and hepatitis, according to a top doctor.

Griffiths rejects cancer drugs fund

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:06:14 +0100

Welsh Health Minister Lesley Griffiths has told a group of top medics she is standing firm on the issue of a cancer drugs fund for Wales - saying the scheme would not work.

Clot drug 'helps stroke recovery'

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:07:50 +0100

Stroke victims given a clot-busting drug after an attack recover better than those who do not receive the treatment, according to the world's biggest trial of the medicine.

WHO's Chan re-elected for second term

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:33:57 +0100

The World Health Organisation on Wednesday re-appointed Margaret Chan as its chief, who declared universal health care as her top priority.

New advice on opium-based drugs

Wed, 23 May 2012 04:56:54 +0100

People suffering long-term illnesses with a high level of pain are not receiving the relief they need from doctors unsure when to prescribe strong drugs, a medical body said.

Healthcare infection rates down

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:10:59 +0100

More than 6% of hospital patients in England had a healthcare-associated infection last autumn, a snapshot survey from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has shown.

NHS education reforms 'lack detail'

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:10:59 +0100

The Government's plans to reform education and training in the NHS are unclear and lack detail, MPs have warned.

C.diff under-reported, claims poll

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:10:59 +0100

Cases of a notorious hospital bug may be going unreported because of the threat of Government-imposed fines, it has been claimed.

Third of malaria drugs in SE Asia are fake

Tue, 22 May 2012 20:45:24 +0100

More than a third of malaria drugs examined by scientists in Southeast Asia were fake, and a similar proportion analysed in Africa were below standard, doctors warned on Tuesday.

Warning over NHS system 'abuse'

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:08:57 +0100

The Government needs to look again at the issue of foreign nationals' use of the NHS, to ensure the country's healthcare system is "not free at the point of abuse", a Conservative MP has warned.

Foundation objects to auction of purported vial of Reagan's blood

Tue, 22 May 2012 02:18:57 +0100

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ronald Reagan's foundation expressed outrage on Monday at a British company's auction of what it says is a vial of the late U.S. president's blood taken at the hospital where he was treated after a 1981 assassination attempt. PFC Auctions, a company based in Guernsey in the United Kingdom, announced on Sunday that it would sell the vial of blood in an online auction set to end on Thursday. The vial was taken at George Washington University Hospital on March 30, 1981, after Reagan was wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C., PFC Auctions said on its website. ...

World's smallest artificial heart implanted in Italian baby

Mon, 21 May 2012 18:41:31 +0100

Italian doctors in March implanted the smallest ever artificial heart into a 16-month-old baby before the infant received a permanent organ donation, said the hospital that performed the operation.

NHS trust fined for data breaches

Mon, 21 May 2012 11:36:24 +0100

An NHS trust has been fined £90,000 after details of almost 60 patients were sent to the wrong person, the information watchdog has said.

BTG swings to profit after strong antidote sales

Mon, 21 May 2012 07:49:08 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's BTG swung to a pretax profit for the year to end-March, helped by its move to direct sales of its specialist anti-poison drugs, and said it had acquired the European named-patients supply rights for another antidote, uridine triacetate. The speciality pharma company, which already has the U.S. supply rights for the medicine to treat toxicity of cancer drug 5-FU, said it retained the option to acquire the European commercial rights from Wellstat upon approval. ...

Waiting-time breaches evidence call

Thu, 17 May 2012 16:00:21 +0100

The Health Secretary has challenged Labour to bring forward the evidence that shows waiting-time rules are being breached across the NHS.

Rise in mixed-sex NHS ward breaches

Thu, 17 May 2012 16:00:21 +0100

The number of breaches of rules on mixed-sex NHS wards rose by nearly 100 last month, according to new figures.

GP denies claims over TB death girl

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:51:17 +0100

A doctor has denied recommending a spiritual healer to a 15-year-old schoolgirl in the weeks before she died from tuberculosis.

Statins 'could benefit the healthy'

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:08:58 +0100

Cholesterol-lowering drugs can benefit even apparently healthy people with no previous history of heart disease, a study has found.

Third 'not using cholesterol drugs'

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:08:58 +0100

More than a third of people prescribed drugs for high cholesterol are putting themselves at a dramatically increased risk of heart problems by failing to take their medication for the condition, a health charity has warned.

'No excuse' for diabetes errors

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:04:57 +0100

Almost a third of diabetic hospital patients are victims of medication errors that can cause dangerous blood glucose levels, a report has found.

'Fewer cases of norovirus recorded'

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:17:33 +0100

Outbreaks of the potentially fatal norovirus have fallen in recent years, Scotland's top doctor has said.

Nice approves prostate cancer drug

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:03:06 +0100

A drug to treat advanced prostate cancer should be given to patients on the NHS, a health watchdog has said.

Child epilepsy ops 'set to treble'

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:04:52 +0100

The number of children receiving brain surgery for epilepsy is set to almost treble under plans for a major expansion of services across England.

Miliband in NHS whistleblower call

Tue, 15 May 2012 16:12:08 +0100

Labour leader Ed Miliband has called on NHS staff and patients to hold the Government to account for difficulties resulting from its controversial reforms to the health service.

Bug sees eight hospital wards shut

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:56:22 +0100

Two more wards at a hospital have been closed to new patients because of an outbreak of a bug thought to be the norovirus.

Warning over NHS reform risk veto

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:37:49 +0100

Blocking the publication of a report into the risks of NHS reforms is a sign that ministers want to downgrade freedom of information laws, a watchdog has warned.

GSK pays 61 million pounds to take control of Cellzome

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:07:18 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline is paying 61 million pounds to take full control of Cellzome, a Anglo-German biotech whose drug discovery platform it is already using to develop treatments for inflammatory diseases. GSK took an initial stake in Cellzome in 2008 as part of its strategy to license more drugs from outside firms rather than develop them from in-house research. ...

Warning over medicine shortages

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:44:08 +0100

Patients are suffering because of a shortage of some NHS prescription medicines, a Parliamentary group has warned.

MPs urge action on medicine shortages

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:02:40 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain faces a worsening shortages of medicines because vital supplies are being sucked out of the country by exporters who can sell them for higher prices elsewhere, MPs said. The All-Party Pharmacy Group (APPG) said on Tuesday the government needed to consider ways to curb this so-called parallel trade, allowed under European Union rules and which can distort the distribution of prescription drugs. Action by drug manufacturers to try to solve the problem by introducing quotas for drugs in a bid to stop exports has made the situation worse. ...

Two more deaths in Norovirus alert

Mon, 14 May 2012 18:40:14 +0100

Two more patients suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting thought to be the Norovirus bug have died in hospital.

French drug maker on trial over weight-loss pill

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:13:47 +0100

NANTERRE, France (Reuters) - French drug maker Servier and its founder went on trial on Monday accused of misleading patients and authorities about a diabetes drug often prescribed for weight loss that officials blame for at least 500 deaths. The case, one of France's worst health scandals, has put authorities under scrutiny for allowing the sale of Mediator long after the medicine had been pulled in other European countries. Although licensed as a diabetes treatment, the drug was widely prescribed, with a state subsidy, as an appetite suppressant to help people lose weight. ...

Nursing staff heckle 'liar' Lansley

Mon, 14 May 2012 13:34:48 +0100

Nurses have heckled and laughed at Health Secretary Andrew Lansley after he claimed clinical staffing levels in the NHS had increased.

Regulator rapped over breast implant scandal

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:39:29 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - The healthcare regulator has "serious lessons" to learn from the PIP breast implant scandal, according to a government review published on Monday. The review was commissioned after the discovery that for up to a decade hundreds of thousands of women around the world, including 47,000 in Britain, had received substandard silicone breast implants manufactured by France's Poly Implant Prothese (PIP). ...

Sex talk 'made women feel unsafe'

Fri, 11 May 2012 18:31:29 +0100

A male nurse targeted young female colleagues at work with sex talk aimed at arousing him, an expert panel has found.

Surge in demand for sleeping pills

Fri, 11 May 2012 01:36:38 +0100

A sharp rise in the use of sleeping pills saw NHS spending on the drugs reach nearly £50 million last year, new figures reveal.

Anger over cancer drug decision

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:08:19 +0100

A life-extending drug hailed as a breakthrough for prostate cancer sufferers is too expensive to be used on the NHS, watchdogs have ruled.

Botox for migraines on NHS closer

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:08:19 +0100

The use of Botox to treat chronic migraine on the NHS has moved a step nearer.

UK cost body backs Botox for some migraine patients

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:05:12 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's healthcare cost-effectiveness body NICE has changed its mind on Allergan's anti-wrinkle injection Botox and decided it is worth paying for on the state-funded health service for some patients suffering migraines. Botox is licensed to prevent headaches in adults with chronic migraine but the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) had previously said it was not convinced of the value of funding the treatment on the country's National Health Service (NHS). ...

Spine injury composer urges action

Thu, 10 May 2012 06:17:54 +0100

A critically acclaimed international composer left wheelchair-bound when a hospital misdiagnosed his fractured spine has called for lessons to be learned after an NHS trust admitted a catalogue of errors in his care.