Category: Latest

Statins are a group of drugs commonly used to combat cholesterol levels. Here in the U.K., cardiovascular disease (CVD), otherwise known as ‘heart disease’, is a common cause of death. There are several types of CVD including coronary heart disease, angina and heart attacks. All can occur due to blood flow being restricted from getting to the heart.

Statins help to lower cholesterol, and as with any drug, it comes with its own side-effects including upset stomach; headaches; nausea; muscle aches and pains; and pins and needles. However, researchers suggested that side-effects from statins may not be real. As such, their theory was put to the test…
Read More “Statins side-effects – Researchers run tests to see if they’re real or not!”

Back in February 2017, reports revealed that hundreds upon thousands of medical correspondences never made it to healthcare providers. The contractor hired by the NHS to send medical information between health institutions and providers reportedly lost around 709,000 pieces of data.

Truly staggering…

The information included patient medical records and test results. At the time the atrocity was revealed, it was suspected that 500 patients may have been harmed as a result of missing key medical information. Now, the number is over 1,700.
Read More “Potential risk of harm to hundreds of NHS patients because of undelivered medical mail”

The pharmaceutical sector has been investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for suspected breaches of competition legislation for alleged unfair pricing. The allegations of unfair pricing could have a severe knock-on effect on the NHS which is already in a vulnerable state.

The investigation into the unfair pricing was opened in October 2016. A large degree of scrutiny and information gathering is usually completed before the CMA will come to a definitive conclusion as to whether the pharmaceutical company have breached competition laws – namely Chapter II of the Competition Act (CA) and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

The key issue here though is whether unfair pricing is needlessly costing the NHS too much. If so, the repercussions for this – given the state of our NHS – could be significant.
Read More “Investigation into alleged unfair pricing of drugs and medicines supplied to the NHS”

Docetaxel, or more commonly known by its brand name Taxotere, is a medical drug used to treat cancer. The chemotherapy drug can be used to treat breast, head and neck, stomach, prostate and non small-cell cancerous cells.

For breast cancer patients it’s the most popular choice of treatment with 75% opting for Taxotere. However, it has since been revealed that manufacturers have not been quite so explicit with the effects the life-saving drug can have, and patients and physicians have reportedly been kept in the dark that Taxotere can cause permanent hair loss.
Read More “Breast cancer patients reportedly not being sufficiently warned about permanent side effects of Taxotere”

There is reportedly a rising epidemic in opioid painkiller dependency for women who need C–sections for giving birth.

Though caesarean sections are only carried out when it’s considered to be the safest option for both mother and baby, around one in every four/five women in the U.K. have a caesarean. Recovering from a caesarean usually takes longer than a vaginal birth which is why painkillers are frequently prescribed; but according to Health Day, opioid painkillers are being over-prescribed.
Read More “The rising epidemic in opioid painkiller dependency”

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines are essentially very large medical devices that can take detailed scans of the inside of the body. It uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to pick up images inside the body.

If you need to look at tissue inside the body, an MRI scan is usually what you need. Often used to look inside the brain and other vital organs, MRI’s can show us a much clearer picture of what’s going on inside our bodies.

However, there are some risks with their use…
Read More “MRI scans and the rare risks involved…”

The NHS has suffered as a result of a “large-scale hack” across the globe that hit some 99 countries in total.

The malware message is demanding ransoms from hospitals! A message appearing on hospital screens says that doctors will need to cough up if they want to save their files. The big issue here is that this causes a wider problem for patients across the country as hospitals are forced to use their ‘back-up’ plans, and services are being seriously reduced.

Real people’s lives are in danger here.
Read More “Worldwide ransomware attack brings NHS services to a standstill”

Open heart surgery has always been an operation with many implications and risks.

However, patients who have undergone open heart surgery in the UK are being told that they may be at risk of a deadly infection linked to medical equipment that was used during the operation.
Read More “Open heart surgery linked to deadly infection”

When you seek medical treatment, many people fall into the sometimes false sense of security that they’re in ‘safe hands’. This is especially the case for one nurse, who has been banned from practising following multiple blunders.

A former nurse, Jonathan Thompson, has been told that he will never practise again after he mixed up patients and failed to adhere to NHS policies, resulting in serious complications and problems for the victims of this medical negligence.
Read More “Nurse malpractice has led to a life ban on Nursing Register”

The NHS and London Ambulance Service suffered technical problems that caused delays which may have caused a patient’s death over the New Year period.

A separate inquiry was launched into whether the technical problems was a contributory factor to a patient’s death. The crashing of a computer meant that control centre employees had to use the old-fashioned method of pen and paper to take down emergency 999 calls for approximately 5 hours, which has been linked to the death.
Read More “NHS’ New Year’s glitch that may have caused patient’s death”

Both Calderdale Royal Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary have come under fire recently due to multiple failings found within the Trusts.

One such incident was a clear and serious error when staff at Calderdale Hospital undertook an intimate examination of the wrong patient between July and September 2016.

We all know the NHS has a tough job in tough conditions, but there are some things that are clearly preventable.
Read More “Multiple medical errors at the Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust”

A recent survey shows that antibiotics and narcotics are often over-prescribed, with some experts worldwide suggesting that they’re frequently prescribed when they’re not necessary, and may actually do more harm than good.

The survey revealed that patients use antibiotics or narcotics despite guidelines showing little effectiveness of taking them. There is rising concern in the U.K. that the NHS are providing patients with services and products that aren’t needed, which is concerning from both a health and a cost perspective.
Read More “GPs and hospitals are unnecessarily prescribing antibiotics”