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Comparative Effectiveness

Surgery performed on wrong side: patient

Independent Online
By Fatima Schroeder
June 23, 2008
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1…

A 63-year-old Athlone factory supervisor is suing a Claremont surgeon and Western Cape Health MEC Pierre Uys for R630 000 for operating on the wrong side of his body. The man, Mohammed Noor Ebrahim, alleges in Cape High Court papers that surgeon Charles Simonsz performed the operation on the right side of his abdomen instead of the left.The MEC is also cited as a defendant because further surgery was performed at Groote Schuur hospital and Ebrahim says the hospital is managed by the Western Cape Provincial Administration.

Two-year wait to see a dentist

Yorkshire Post By Mark Branagan
July 10, 2008
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews/Twoyear-wait-to-see-a.4274975.jp
TENS of thousands of North Yorkshire residents have been waiting more than two years to see a dentist according to a local health watchdog – who warned yesterday the failure to see patients regularly could lead to a huge decline in treatment. A report by MPs at the start of the month claimed changes designed to improve NHS dental services in England have failed and the new 2006 contract aimed at simplifying charges and improving access to NHS services had achieved only patchy success.

‘Our voices will be heard’

The Herald By Carolyn Churchill
July 9, 2008
http://www.theherald.co.uk/search/display.var.2385664.0.our_voices_will_be_heard.php
IT was the first major outbreak of Clostridium Difficile in Scotland and sparked an independent review into surveillance systems and infection control procedures at one hospital. Some 55 patients at the Vale of Leven Hospital in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire contracted the bug between December and June . A total of 18 deaths were linked to C Diff and in half of those cases, it was the main cause of death.

Doctors call for top-ups review

BBC News By Nick Triggle
July 9, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7496285.stm
Doctors have called for a thorough and independent review of the ban on NHS patients paying to top up their care. Anyone in the UK who pays for any form of private treatment can be barred from the normal package of NHS care…Dr Stephen Austin, of the BMA’s consultants committee, said: “This is grossly unfair to these patients at the most vulnerable time of their life.

The NHS should help patients, not harm them

The Sunday Telegraph
July 6, 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/07/06/dl0601.xml
He endorses the present situation: patients are told that if they choose to spend their own money on the drugs they need, the NHS will stop treating them. Patients such as Linda O’Boyle, who died of cancer last year, have had to fund their own chemotherapy because they had the temerity to buy for themselves drugs that the NHS refused to fund, even though their own NHS doctors recommended them.

Parents of stillborn baby Amalia Devine launch emotional campaign to save other tots

Sunday Mail By Heather Greenaway
July 6, 2008
http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/lifestyle/real-life-stories/2008/07/06/parents…
The tot died in her mother Barbara Mane’s womb - suffocated by her umbilical cord despite doctors spotting it during a scan. Now she and partner Robert are trying to raise awareness to prevent similar tragedies. And they want to force hospitals to stop classing the cause of nuchal cord death as “unknown”. They have made their campaign HQ in the nursery where Amalia’s cot lies empty.

Private drug helps cancer man left to die

The Sunday Times By Sarah-Kate Templeton
July 6, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4276454.ece
A CANCER patient sent home to die by the National Health Service has seen his health improve after he cashed in his pension and used funds raised by friends to pay privately for an expensive drug. Andrew Crabb, 49, a father of three from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, was told by doctors in October that there was no treatment available on the NHS for his advanced kidney cancer. His wife Diane, 57, was told that he had months to live.

Cancer victim denied life-saving drugs in postcode lottery given fresh hope by judge

Daily Mail By Gwyneth Rees
July 5, 2008
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1031914/Cancer-victim…
A GRANDMOTHER denied life-prolonging cancer drugs has been given fresh hope by a judge who ordered her case to be reviewed. Jean Murphy, 62, was diagnosed with kidney cancer last year and her consultant recommended a course of Sunitinib to extend her life by around six months. But she became a ‘postcode lottery’ victim when her NHS Primary Care Trust refused to prescribe her the £3,500-a-month drug, although it is routinely given to patients by neighbouring trusts.

Mercy for fraudster whose Gan needed Alzheimer’s drugs

Daily Mail By Rebecca Camber
July 4, 2008
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1031588/Woman-took-false…
A WOMAN who took out loans of more than £ 6,000 under false names to pay for Alzheimer’s drugs her grandmother needed was spared jail yesterday. Fiona Bartlett, 41, fraudulently applied for 18 loans in a desperate attempt to pay for a £ 250-amonth drug after her grandmother was refused NHS funding. The mother of two had already borrowed more than £20,000 from the loan company she worked for, Provident Personal Credit.

Letter: Viewpoints - Poor decisions by NHS Wales

South Wales Echo By Len Robinson
July 3, 2008
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/letters-to-the-editor…
THE Scottish Government has arranged for £40mto be spent by the NHS on fighting obesity. It is also offering to pay people to give up smoking. In Wales, a 17-month-old baby who suffers from a condition known as flat head disfigurement is refused the only cure, a special helmet costing £2,000, because of the cost.

Sad tales of NHS failure

Express and Star By Charlie Cashden
July 3, 2008
http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/07/03/sad-tales-of-nhs-failure/
I went back and forth from doctors and various hospitals between the ages of 5 to 24 with a painful urinary complaint which I had suffered with from birth. The mistreatment, misdiagnoses, horribly rude consultants and errors experienced during those years would fill several blogs… After waiting six years, the consultant spent four minutes with me at my first appointment and was so abrupt I left the room and sobbed.

South Africa: Refugees Denied Access to Health Care

AllAfrica By Kristin Palitza
July 1, 2008
http://allafrica.com/stories/200807020002.html
Refugees and migrants do not have adequate access to health care services in South Africa, aid organisations and NGOs say. This is particularly detrimental for those who are HIV-positive and in need of continuous antiretroviral (ARV) medication: interrupted treatment can mean illness, development of drug-resistance and ultimately death.
“Displacement carries huge risks for people with chronic illnesses of not being able to access the medication they need,” explains Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) spokesperson Nathan Geffen. “But so far (refugees and migrants) have received poor support from the national Department of Health.”

A sick message; Health care through a biased lens

The Washington Times Opinion-Editorial
June 28, 2007
Michael Moore’s new movie, “Sicko,” tries to convince us that health care in Canada, France, Britain and even Cuba is “free,” universal, excellent and everlasting - and because in America it is not, millions of our fellow citizens, even those who sacrificed at Ground Zero, are denied care and/or die for no fault of their own. Mr. Moore also has another, larger message: that socialism is nothing to be afraid of, but rather the administrative reflection of one human being’s desire to hug one another.

Doctor apologizes at funeral for man at centre of life-support controversy

Winnipeg Free Press By Jen Skerritt
June 25, 2008
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national…
A mystery doctor who stepped forward to care for an ailing man at the centre of a debate over end-of-life care apologized at the elderly man’s funeral Wednesday, saying the medical system may have let him down. Dr. Joel Zivot, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s medical director of intensive care cardiac sciences, served as one of 85-year-old Sam Golubchuk’s pallbearers and gave a sympathetic eulogy at the man’s funeral service.

The orphans of Medicare

Globe & Mail By André Picard
June 24, 2008
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/dwww.theg…
(Subscription required)

A selfish quest for life hits the NHS

The Financial Times By Robert Shrimsley
June 12, 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/53b75bd8-3818-11dd-aabb-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

I was told I was too young for a smear test but now I am dying of cervical cancer at just 24

The Daily Mail By Amanda Lynch
June 10, 2008
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1025334/I-told-I…
Twice Katie Hilliard asked for a smear test, but was told she was ‘too young’ to need one. Now 24, she is dying from cervical cancer, one of many young women who have fallen victim to a scandalous change in health policy.

How Liberal Care Would Kill Ted

The New York Post By Robert Goldberg
June 5, 2008
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06052008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/how_liberal…

Polish Pharmacies Protest against “Unlawful” Drug Reimbursement Practices

Global Insight Daily Analysis By Dr Elvira Dragas
May 22, 2008
Subscription required: http://www.globalinsight.com/
Polish pharmacists have complained to the national Ombudsman for alleged “unlawful” reimbursement practices effected by the country’s National Health Insurance Fund (NFZ), reports Pharma Poland News. NFZ is allegedly abusing its privileged position by arbitrarily withholding current reimbursement payments pending the clarification of flawed past prescriptions, notes the source.

Cancer patient kills himself day after he is told NHS Trust would not fund £25,000 drug

The Daily Mail (UK) By Rebecca Camber
June 25, 2008
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1029038/Cancer-patient-kills-day-told…
A cancer patient killed himself after being told he had been refused a wonder drug by his local primary care trust.

4 million Canadians without family doctor

The Canadian Press
June 19, 2008
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/06/18/5915661-cp.html

Still waiting for help from NHS

The York Press, UK
June 18, 2008
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/yorknews/display.var.2348652.0.still_waiting_for_help_from_nhs.php

I was told I was too young for a smear test but now I am dying of cervical cancer at just 24

The Daily Mail By Amanda Lynch
June 10, 2008
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1025334/I-told-I-young-smear-test-I-dying-cervical-cancer-just-24.html
Twice Katie Hilliard asked for a smear test, but was told she was ‘too young’ to need one. Now 24, she is dying from cervical cancer, one of many young women who have fallen victim to a scandalous change in health policy.

Competition for health care

The Detroit Free Press
June 16, 2008
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080615/OPINION05/80612057/1231/OPINION02

Little relief in sight for arthritis waiting lists

CBC.ca, Canada
June 9, 2008
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/06/09/arthritis-wait.html?ref=rss

Many women waiting too long for breast cancer treatment

The London Free Press, Canada
June 5, 2008
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080605/breast_cancer_080605/20080605?hub=Health

Don’t treat the old and unhealthy, say doctors

The Telegraph By Laura Donnelly
April 18, 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1576704/Don%27t-treat-the-old-and-unhealthy%2C-say-doctors.html
Health Correspondent Donnelly describes how as Britain’s NHS struggles to find the money to cover basic medical care.

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