Health Policy InsightHealthcare management online analysis and intelligence
Health Policy InsightBritish Pregnancy Advisory Service says NC20 amendment to criminal justice bill ‘not right way’ to overhaul the law
An attempt to change the law on abortion led by the Labour MP Stella Creasy is not supported by “any of the abortion providers in the country”, a leading pro-choice charity has said.
Rachael Clarke, the head of advocacy at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas), said Creasy’s NC20 amendment to the criminal justice bill “is not the right way” to overhaul abortion laws.
Continue reading...Australian researchers hope test is a ‘game-changer’ for diagnosing those following a strict gluten-free diet
Coeliacs may soon no longer need to eat large amounts of gluten – the very thing suspected of making them sick – to get an accurate diagnosis.
Australian research published on Tuesday in the journal Gastroenterology showed a blood test for gluten-specific T cells had a high accuracy in diagnosing coeliac disease, even when no gluten was eaten.
Continue reading...Patient’s own embryo instead of partner’s was ‘incorrectly transferred’, fertility company tells ASX, months after revealing separate Queensland clinic error
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
A second bungled embryo implant at Monash IVF has sparked a new investigation and the expansion of a review into the first incident, which led to a woman unknowingly giving birth to a stranger’s baby.
Monash IVF said in a statement on Tuesday that in June “a patient’s own embryo was incorrectly transferred to that patient, contrary to the treatment plan which designated the transfer of an embryo of the patient’s partner”.
Continue reading...As right-wing governments seek to blame a rejection of parenthood, a survey reveals a lack of choice, not desire, stops people having the families they want
Millions of people are prevented from having the number of children they want by a toxic mix of economic barriers and sexism, a new UN report has warned.
Factors such as the high cost of parenthood, job insecurity, expensive housing, concerns over the state of the world and the lack of a suitable partner stop people having the families they want, rather than any desire not to have children, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), said.
Continue reading...Health secretary says he’s getting rid of members sitting on panel of vaccine experts and reconstituting the committee
The health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, is getting rid of all members sitting on a key US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel of vaccine experts and reconstituting the committee, he said on Monday.
Kennedy is retiring and replacing all 17 members of the CDC’s advisory committee for immunization practices, he wrote in piece published in the Wall Street Journal.
Continue reading...Gallup poll found 61% of women identify as pro-choice, while only 41% of men do so, in three years after fall of Roe
Three years after the fall of Roe v Wade and months after an election that heavily focused on the fight over abortion rights, men and women have never diverged more on their support for access to the procedure, according to new polling from Gallup released Monday.
Sixty-one percent of women now identify as “pro-choice”, but only 41% of men say the same, Gallup found. The same percentage of women identified as “pro-choice” in 2022, just after the decision to overturn Roe was leaked, but at the time, 48% of men also did so. Prior to Roe’s collapse, men and women were never more than 10 points apart from one another on the issue, according to decades of Gallup polling.
Continue reading...Physical activity is part of a healthy lifestyle – ministers should grab the chance to shape the culture surrounding it
The role of exercise in promoting good general health, and helping to prevent heart disease, strokes and diabetes is well established. No wonder, then, that long‑distance running keeps growing in popularity. Popular tracks and parks have never been busier, with groups in stretchy Lycra and fitness trackers on their wrists. The internet is awash with exercise videos, while figures earlier this year showed that gym memberships have climbed to a record 11.5m. The 16.9% of people aged 16 or over in Britain who belong to a gym is one of the highest proportions in Europe.
The older teenagers and young adults of generation Z are a key demographic behind this social trend. And recent news from the world’s biggest cancer conference, in Chicago, shows how right they are to take the health benefits of fitness seriously. A landmark trial compared the outcomes of patients in several countries who were placed on a programme of structured exercise – assisted by a personal trainer – with those offered standard health advice.
Continue reading...‘Shocking statistics’ prompt calls for government funding to replace broken and obsolete medical devices
Almost 100 people have died and 4,000 have been harmed after equipment malfunctions in the NHS in the past three years, prompting calls for more government funding to upgrade broken and obsolete medical devices.
A defibrillator advising paramedics not to administer a shock, an emergency alarm system on a neonatal ward failing, and the camera on an intubation device going dark were just three failures after which patients died.
Continue reading...A 44-year-old woman was left ‘shocked, horrified and upset’ after procedure, with surgeon blaming manufacturing fault
Jane Harvey* suffered horrendous physical and mental consequences when, during an abdominal hysterectomy in October 2023, the tip of one of the surgeon’s blades broke off and lodged inside her without any of the operating theatre staff noticing or an X-ray spotting it.
As a result the 44-year-old had to undergo further surgery to remove the mislaid blade part and stay in hospital longer than planned, needed extra time to recover and suffered nightmares, panic attacks and loss of appetite. She is now suing the NHS trust concerned for damages because of her experience.
Continue reading...Most survivors of physical abuse by partners reported blows to the head, linked to brain injury and poor mental health for decades
Women who are victims of domestic violence are at a higher risk of traumatic brain injury and mental health conditions for many years after the abuse has ended, a study has found.
Almost one in three women around the world experience domestic violence, and researchers say the impact on mental health – such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – can last for decades.
In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org
Continue reading...Panel found Prof Richard Thompson failed to escalate Martha Mills’s treatment to intensive care or to review her condition directly in person
A senior doctor has been found guilty of “misconduct which impairs his fitness to practise” in relation to his treatment of a 13-year-old girl whose death led to the adoption of Martha’s rule.
The disciplinary panel reached its decision having determined that Prof Richard Thompson failed to escalate the treatment of Martha Mills to an intensive care unit or to conduct a direct in-person review and assessment, including of a newly developed rash.
Continue reading...Ontario’s chief medical officer of health says infections could have been prevented through routine vaccination
Six babies with unvaccinated mothers have been born with congenital measles in the Canadian province of Ontario since the start of the largest outbreak of the disease in the western hemisphere late last year.
Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Kieran Moore, said the infants, who were infected with measles in the womb, had all recovered. He said the infections could have been prevented through routine vaccination.
Continue reading...Liberal MP Moira Deeming and Melbourne Storm forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona reportedly join a concussion expert in expressing concern
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The organisers of a “run it straight” competition, in which men deliberately collide with each other, are planning another match despite a neuroscientist and concussion expert’s warning about the social-media-fuelled contest’s dangers.
The RUNIT Championship League promised $200,000 in prize money for the next bout in an Instagram post that was published on its official account on Sunday.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Since Colorado clinic that performed abortions past the second trimester is gone, procedure will be harder to obtain
One Tuesday morning in April, Alicia Moreno and the rest of the staff at Boulder abortion clinic learned that the clinic’s owner, Dr Warren Hern, was closing the clinic on Friday. One of the few abortion clinics in the US that performed abortions past the second trimester would, after 50 years, shutter its doors.
They sprang into action. Suddenly, multiple patients who had been scheduled for abortions had to go somewhere else.
Continue reading...