The first thing of course, even before coffee is to pull the morning paper through our letter box in the front door, turn on an extra heater in the room I’m in and do a scan of the paper before actually settling down to read it all.  Sometimes there are two papers.

Well, scanning the paper today I came across this story and was just floored by what I’d read.  So I immediately booted because I want this story shared before I get bogged down with other things.

This was just one hospital out of hundreds and hundreds that I am sure would not have acted this way.  But then I have to wonder.  Is that really true?
Given the state of thinking in today’s world, who is to say with certainty that the same might not apply somewhere else.  The USA as well?

This really is so totally outrageous it needs a category all to itself.
Where’s the common decency? Where’s the humanity? The common sense?

If there were no other way to transport this poor old man who once served his country well, and even had he never been in the army, never mind.
Is this any way to treat an old man?

People who know me well enough also know that of all the folks I have ever disliked in my life, I have never disliked anyone so much as I do the MIL, and with many a valid reason.  However, as much as I loath her, even I would not condone treating the miserable old bag in this manner.  Even I know better and flinch at the idea of this sort of callas behavior on the part of people who are supposed to be “care givers.”

If there were NO OTHER way of sending this dying old man home, could they not have spared just one person to accompany him so he wasn’t alone?
Couldn’t someone have reached a family member?

Oh good.  They said “sorry.” In a pigs ass!  They’re only sorry because of bad publicity and how long will that last?

Saying “sorry” seems to be the password for everything in this screwed up world.  Thugs arrested for god awful crimes only need to say sorry to get a lighter jail term if they get that at all.  “Sorry.” Who really believes that? 

This story bothers me a lot.  Maybe I’m not as cold blooded as I thought I was. Or maybe I see myself in the same situation some day in the future.

For the first time in my life I’m seriously beginning to wonder if just maybe we really need MORE, not less religion in our lives.  Perhaps if Christian charity
or compassion were at work here in this Christian country, someone would have known this was not right on any level.  And you need not be religious to see how terribly wrong this was.  But perhaps if the staff at this hospital had a bit of old time religious feeling and charity, they would have acted otherwise.

I feel very bad for the victim here, and I see him as exactly that.  A victim not just of the hospital, but of a Godless culture as well.  He deserved better at the end of his life.  Much better.

Dying World War Two hero ‘stripped of human dignity’ by hospital care, family say
A decorated Second World War hero aged 101 was sent home to die by a hospital in a taxi wearing a nappy and a set of ill fitting pyjamas, clutching a bag of soiled clothing.

By John Bingham
Last Updated: 8:17PM GMT 30 Dec 2008

Brigadier John Platt recieved the DSO bravery. The family of Brigadier John Platt, who won the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership in one of the fiercest battles of the Italian campaign, told how he was discharged from Salisbury District Hospital, unable to feed himself.

They said he was in a confused state and incontinent, after a stay which left him “degraded and humiliated”.

During his five-day spell in a mixed-sex observation ward, his hearing aid was crushed, his false teeth went missing and soiled pyjamas were piled up unwashed in a locker by his bedside, they said.

Knowing he was dying after losing the ability to swallow food, he asked to go home. But no ambulance was available so he was sent in a taxi on an hour-long journey to the care home where he died a few days later.

When his family later complained about the hygiene issues around the soiled pyjamas, the hospital wrote back to say that it was unfortunate that he had been “unable to avail himself” of its laundry service.

It has since apologised to Brig Platt’s family for the “unacceptable” nature of his discharge in a taxi in late 2006 and vowed to learn lessons from his ordeal.

His case came to light as Nial Dickson, chief executive of the health thinktank the King’s Fund, warned of a deterioration of compassion from under-pressure staff in NHS hospitals.

Brig Platt’s daughter-in-law, Amanda, said that his case highlighted a “shocking and disgraceful” lack of care.

“All that he had at the end of his 101 years was his dignity and they took that away from him,” she said.

In May 1944 Brig Platt, then a Lieutenant Colonel, personally led the men of the 2nd Battalion, the Somerset Light Infantry, in the heroic assault across the River Gargliano.

He was wounded twice during the operation and later received the DSO for his bravery. In later life he wrote books about military history and hunting.

“It wasn’t the fact that he was my father-in-law and a dear old soldier, it was the complete lack of respect for a dying person, for a human being, that I thought was so terrible,” said Mrs Platt.

“They packed him off without so much as a by your leave in the back of a non-medical car taxi, sitting bolt upright with somebody else’s pyjamas on and a nappy so tight that he could hardly breathe and two cotton blankets on his shoulders.

“They had lost his false teeth which were brand new, I never saw my father-in-law without his false teeth ... and somebody had stood on his deaf aid, which was crushed.”

But she said that what angered the family most was the soiled clothing.

“I just can’t believe that any hospital would keep excrement-covered clothing in a locker for five days ... I got the impression that this lack of attention must be endemic because it was so lightly treated.”

In a statement, the hospital said: “Clearly some aspects of Brigadier Platt’s discharge from hospital in 2006 were unacceptable and the trust apologises for any distress that this caused the patient and his family.

“In apologising, the trust also acknowledges the concerns raised about some of Brigadier Platt’s personal effects.”

TELEGRAPH

“I just can’t believe that any hospital would keep excrement-covered clothing in a locker”

Well I can because something close to that happened here. 
Back in 2005 the wife’s mother fell, broke hip and had other serious ailments and was carted off to the hospital.

When my wife paid a visit she was given what appeared to be a transparent, pink plastic bag containing her mothers soiled nighties. These were meant to be taken home and washed and then brought back to the hospital. 

Well, that pink plastic looking bag was in FACT, made of soap and was dissoluble in water.  But we weren’t aware of that at the time. That bag contained more then a nightie that needed washing. You can guess what.

After that experience we asked that the hospital laundry do her soiled garments.

Here’s the kicker.  Sure, the hospital can do the laundry. But you have to know ahead of time that, you should ask if they will.  See, you might take for granted that they will.  They won’t volunteer the info.  And nobody told us that the bag would dissolve in water.  We may have been lucky in that.

Thankfully, we never put that soap-bag in our washer. It was done outside in a bucket.  Foolishly perhaps, we hadn’t expected the extra ingredients that bag contained.  But we kind of suspected.  It wasn’t until we opened the bag that we found it all.  It did however confirm my belief that the old lady was full of it.

Finally, wife has just informed me that the hospital in question here has had a number of problems in the past.  This hosp. trust is one of the worst in the country, so she tells me.

While not exactly in the very same league as this article, I did once witness in an American hospital in Riverside, Ca., the same sort of gross indifference and callousness towards an elderly patient in my room when I was recovering from back surgery. And that was over 20 years ago.

I am leaving this posted here for awhile.  I want people to see this. Lots of people. PLEASE pass this one on.

Posted by peiper     on 12/31/2008 at 04:07 AM   
Filed Under: • Editorials • Health-Medicine • Heroes • Medical • Outrageous • UK •  
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   Monday - December 29, 2008

Pictured as he waited to die: Patient subjected to 6-hour delay in A&E - dies in agony.oops, sorry?

The longer I’m here the scarder I get.
This is almost an unbelievable story. 

I was getting ready to close for the night and did a quick scan to see if there was anything that shouldn’t be missed.
Oh boy was there. THIS. And although it won’t bring back the poor guy, I hope the family sues BIG TIME and some ppl lose their jobs and never be allowed to work in the health field again.  Jeesh!

Pictured as he waited to die: Father subjected to 6-hour delay in A&E - despite GP’s note that said he had to be seen immediately

By Colin Fernandez
Last updated at 5:19 PM on 29th December 2008

A father-of-two died after a six-hour wait to be seen at an A&E department - despite having a note from his GP saying he must be treated immediately.

Stewart Fleming, 37, turned up at his local casualty unit with wife Sarah clutching a note from his doctor saying he must be seen ‘straight away’.

But instead of being sent to the head of the queue, Mr Fleming had to sit and wait in agony as his organs collapsed as a virus ravaged his body.

It was three hours before he was even assessed to see if he was a ‘priority case’, and even then it took another three hours for him to be admitted - six hours since he arrived at the hospital.

Doctors then realised the gravity of the situation and desperately started treating the infection, which was attacking his heart, kidneys and liver.

His nightmare began on December 12 when he arrived at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent.

Railway signalman Mr Fleming had been ill with flu-like symptoms for around a week and a half before he went to accident and emergency.

After a course of antibiotics had little effect, his GP recommended going to the hospital.

After belatedly receiving treatment, he remained in hospital for another week before having a leg amputated on December 19 - the day of his son Matthew’s 12th birthday.

He was then put in a drug-induced coma in a bid to save his life.

But, on December 27, after spending another week fighting the illness following his transferall to the Harefield Hospital, near Uxbridge, West London, Mr Fleming died.

The hospital in Kent has since apologised as it was busier than normal ‘due to a high number of admissions’.

But Mr Fleming’s wife of 15 years Sarah, 42, said the family, of Rainham, Kent, was devastated by her husband’s death and has demanded an explanation from hospital chiefs.

MORE HERE AND PIX AS HOSP. FUCKS UP

Posted by peiper     on 12/29/2008 at 12:26 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • Medical • Outrageous • UK •  
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   Wednesday - December 17, 2008

Situation Still Dire In Zimbabwe

No one shakes hands anymore in Zimbabwe, such is the fear of contracting cholera.

The country that was once the jewel in Africa’s crown, able to feed itself, heal its sick and educate its people to the highest standards on the continent, is now in a pitiful state.

Harare’s main hospitals are closed, doctors and nurses are striking over their meagre “Zim dollar” pay and the country’s water and sanitation services are tearing at the seams.

Manhole covers in the streets haemorrhage water because underground pipes have burst.

For many Zimbabweans, shallow wells with filthy water are the only means of quenching their thirst, despite the high risk of becoming ill. The cholera crisis which has already claimed nearly 1,000 lives, is the most potent symbol yet of Zimbabwe’s collapse.

A deadly cocktail of failed services has turned a treatable disease into a major public health threat.

Nine out of Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces have reported cases of cholera.

Eighteen thousand people have been infected so far, according to official figures, but that could just be the tip of the iceberg, with the World Health Organization warning that infections could treble.

...

Meanwhile, Mr Mugabe continues to claim that cholera is being used as a weapon of war - a pretext for Zimbabwe’s former colonial masters to launch a military invasion on his country.

At a public engagement just last week, Mr Mugabe declared that “cholera is no more… there is no cholera”, as news of more infections emerged.

And the downward spiral continues. Death toll is over 1000 at this point, with more than 20,000 infected. I have very little knowledge of infectious diseases, but I would have thought that those rates would be becoming exponential at this point. Perhaps the international relief efforts (clean water and medicine) are having an effect. Perhaps the isolation of outlying villages is keeping the disease’s rate of spreading down. Perhaps Mugabe is lying out his ass even more than usual; since a good part of the world press is banned, there could be tens of thousands of dead rotting in the streets and we’d never know it. Or perhaps those dead merely starved to death or died of AIDS, so they don’t count as part of this calamity.



PS - I put the image map in for JD’s benefit. I couldn’t resist when I saw the “great grey-green greasy” Limpopo River on the map. Image mapping is fun but can be hard to do by hand for the odd shapes. Lots of graphics tools can make the coordinates for you. Try yours when you’re ready, or Google up some free ones.

Posted by Drew458     on 12/17/2008 at 12:33 PM   
Filed Under: • Africa • Health-Medicine • Tyrants and Dictators •  
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   Friday - December 12, 2008

SOMEONE IS TO BLAME AND IT’S EVERYONE’S FAULT BUT THE PERSON WHO MADE THE ERROR!

THE BLAME GAME

This is personal and as stated once before, what else is a blog site for? 
I’m not upset, really I’m not.  In fact, this would be quite funny in a Loral and Hardy film. 
In fact, it’s somewhat funny anyway. 

Lets see if I can explain this coherently.  It is not a big deal and it isn’t even bothersome.
But it’s an indication of a particular mind set and incompetence.  A way of thinking and doing one’s job, making a mistake and saying, “BUT IT’S NOT MY FAULT.” And pointing the fickle finger at someone else.

As in the past, those who read BMEWS will know I have posted before on the nuttiness of some things medical here.  From the lunacy of how to get a prescription filled, trouble with the agency that provides in home care for the wife’s mother, and of course my own adventures recently with making an appointment to see a doctor (needed a password ), and more recently my Colonoscopy adventure.

Well, here’s more and it isn’t just the idea that it involves the same agency mentioned. And it does.  It’s the idea that has taken root globally that mistakes and boners are NEVER the fault of the person who originates the error.  Oh no.  It’s always somebody else’s fault.

So here at last is the latest installment of pass the buck. 

Every week we get something called a client rota.  In our language (USA) a schedule.  It is a weekly schedule that tells us what time the care givers come to change the diaper and clean the old lady in the next room. It gives the times both morning and afternoon and who will be coming at those times.

Schedules we’ve been told, are made up two weeks in advance. And so every week we receive a schedule in the mail for the coming week.  This would be snail mail btw.  That’s important to note because 200 schedules went out this week at a cost to the agency of approx. $160.00 in postage.
With the wrong date and times. They thought they were mailing out a schedule for the Christmas week.  But no, what arrived in the post were four sheets of paper.  Two of those sheets are for next week, Monday through Sunday, 21 December. .  The other two sheets are for …… the very same thing.  In other words, duplicates.

When the care givers, as they are called, arrived to make the afternoon diaper change, one of the team was someone who normally works in their office and fills in on house calls when they are short handed.  Since she was office personnel my wife pointed out that we had a duplicate schedule and asked if it shouldn’t have been the Christmas one instead.

She immediately said yes and went on to defend herself saying, “It wasn’t my fault.  I made the copies and handed them to someone else to put in the envelopes for mailing.  IF I HAD DONE THE STUFFING AND MAILING, I WOULD HAVE CHECKED THEM FIRST.”

She actually said that. 

Now why on earth would the person being handed stuff to mail, think to check her co-workers work?  So if it isn’t her fault, whose?

More likely I suppose it was my fault for opening this morning’s mail and even the postman who delivered it. 

Hey that’s right.  The postman.  Like I said. “IT WASN’T MY FAULT.”

Oh boy.
Stay Tuned. 

Posted by peiper     on 12/12/2008 at 10:27 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • Humor • Personal • UK •  
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   Thursday - December 04, 2008

Hospital bosses demand dead man’s consent… before they investigate family complaints.

Dollars to donuts nobody will lose their job over this. Sure, mistakes happen.  But she’s telling them he’s dead. And besides:

Mrs Guidon, from Boarshaw, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, suspected the cancer had returned but she says she had to ask eight times before anyone carried out tests and he died within days of getting confirmation it had become more aggressive.

Hospital bosses demand dead man’s consent… before they investigate family complaints over his death

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:12 AM on 04th December 2008

A grieving daughter was told by hospital chiefs they could not investigate her complaints about the treatment of her dead father - unless he signed a consent form.

Sally Guidon watched her 76-year-old father James Johnson die in agony and wrote to the hospital making a series of complaints and asking staff to investigate his death.

But North Manchester General Hospital replied to the mother-of-three saying they needed Mr Johnson’s signature to open his file and look into her complaint.

Mrs Guidon said the letter was the ultimate insult after what she claims was eight weeks of poor care given to her father.

Hospital bosses have now apologised for the administrative error and say they will look into the case when they get permission from her mother, Mrs Johnson, who is listed as his next of kin.

Mrs Guidon, 31, said: ‘I cried for about an hour and a half when I got the letter. It was the final insult, I don’t know why I was surprised by it after seeing the way they cared for Dad - it is typical of them to make such a basic error.

‘I’m disgusted with them. My dad worked so hard all his life and for him to be treated like that was terrible. To watch him die in agony was heartbreaking.

‘I don’t know what they were doing but they let him waste away. Because he was an old man they put him on the scrapheap when he should have been allowed to die with dignity.

‘When he went into hospital he was struggling to eat but we helped him and he weighed about 13 stone but he got no help in hospital and he was always desperately thirsty when we went to see him and asking us to help him drink, he went down to about eight stone in just two months.’

MORE HERE

Posted by peiper     on 12/04/2008 at 01:18 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine •  
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   Friday - October 17, 2008

Gosh what a non-surprise

Hawaii is dropping the only state universal child health care program in the country just seven months after it launched. Gov. Linda Lingle’s administration cited budget shortfalls and other available health care options for eliminating funding for the program. A state official said families were dropping private coverage so their children would be eligible for the subsidized plan.

“People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free,” said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. “I don’t believe that was the intent of the program.”

Hawaii lawmakers approved the health plan in 2007 as a way to ensure every child can get basic medical help. The Keiki (child) Care program aimed to cover every child from birth to 18 years old who didn’t already have health insurance — mostly immigrants and members of lower-income families.  It costs the state about $50,000 per month, or $25.50 per child — an amount that was more than matched by HMSA.  State health officials argued that most of the children enrolled in the universal child care program previously had private health insurance, indicating that it was helping those who didn’t need it.

Like I said the other day, it’s a basic cost-benefit analysis thing. Why pay for something the government will give you for “free”? And this is exactly what is going to happen under Obama’s health care plan. Faced with a choice between paying for some or all of their employee’s health insurance, or letting the government pay for it, no employer in their right mind will hesitate. Exactly the same thing will happen, only on a scale orders of magnitude greater. And we’ll have instant Socialized Medicine, in which the government becomes a near monopoly in the health insurance business. And that’s not Free Market Capitalism. That’s not Representative Democracy. That’s pure Socialism. Hell, it’s Communism; the government will be taking over a private sector business. It will not be possible to write laws, which pass the Constitutional “equal treatment” test, which force employers that presently provide health benefits to continue to do so, while giving other employees who do not have this benefit the ability to sign up to receive government health insurance for free. Or even for reduced cost. Once the government becomes an insurance agency any citizen can sign up, and will sign up, and the whole health insurance industry edifice crumbles to dust over night.

Your solution to the “health care crisis” is fundamentally flawed, Senator Government. It will not work, period.

Posted by Drew458     on 10/17/2008 at 12:01 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Health-Medicine •  
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   Saturday - October 04, 2008

POINTS OF VIEW ……. A discussion, not an argument.

THIS POSTING IS A DISCUSSION ON THE SUBJECT WITH REGARD TO THE RIGHT OF A PHARMACIST TO WITHHOLD MEDICATIONS BASED ON PERSONAL RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 
My position being that the rights of a patient come first where meds are the question. The right to expect to have an Rx filled without hassle based on someone else’s religion.  Apparently, things are not that simple.

I normally wouldn’t do this as a posting but .... Jarand does make a point here that I thought I should post, along with my reply under comments.
It’s interesting beyond where I originally thought the subject should go.  Not that I have changed my mind. But rather I see that it might not be so opened and shut a case as I believe it to be.  Not that it makes any difference because authorities agree with the pharmacist in question and with Jarand as well.

Although most of what I read on this site is pretty good stuff and in my opinion, right on the money, I have to disagree with you here. The pc left and libtards are exactly the people who want to force people to act against their own religious convictions. The fact that this guy is Muslim instead of Christian doesn’t change the fact that there is and always should be a conscious clause. Nobody should be forced to dispense a product that they find morally objectionable. She can say he’s imposing his religion on her but the fact is that, in this case she is trying to impose her lack thereof on him. He told her where the pill would be available. Let her just go there and get it.

Posted by jarand550 United States 10/04/2008 at 06:27 AM

Well, the way I see it is.  I can see your point and understand what you’re saying. But.

If you take a job dealing with the public and especially in this field working in a very major store, think Wal-Mart or Cosco in size, then you are going to be seeing ppl of many different values and backgrounds.
You’re a customer who walks into a store with the honest expectation of being able to get an Rx filled at a pharmacy. Chances are also (but I wouldn’t know in this case) that you’ve done or are about to also do your grocery shopping at the same time.
But hold on a minute ....
The pharmacist, based on his personal religious beliefs, can say to an atheist, a Jew or a Christian, “Sorry but based on my religious beliefs I can’t fill this Rx for you.  There’s another store a mile away that might.” ??? huh?

Can a very conservative Catholic pharmacist refuse to sell “The Pill” to a woman because he or she believe in the rhythm system? Or whatever it’s called.

There are some compromises that one makes in taking employment. Or should make.
If you can’t bring yourself to fit in with the predominant culture in which you live, maybe it’s time to return to where you will fit right in with others who hold the same beliefs.
Or get a different job.

One of the problems here in the UK has been and remains, the constant pandering to various minority groups, to a point where their beliefs should be put ahead of the views of the majority of the population.

peiper

Posted by Drew458     on 10/04/2008 at 08:23 AM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff • Daily Life • Health-Medicine •  
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   Tuesday - September 30, 2008

Horny goat weed ‘could rival Viagra’ .  (I just report this stuff but, can’t help wondering,)

Does it work?  How many goats has it been tested on?  What do the goats say?

I think I’m gonna file this under humor. Although I suppose it isn’t really a funny subject to many. 
Still, you know.  Can anyone help the giggle that forms when this subject comes up.  Wait ... no pun there.

Horny goat weed ‘could rival Viagra’
A Chinese plant known as horny goat weed could be an alternative to Viagra in tackling impotence, research suggests.

By Jon Swaine
Last Updated: 3:23PM BST 30 Sep 2008

A compound made from epimedium brevicornum - also known as horny goat weed and Bishop’s Hat - could also have fewer side effects than the drug, scientists from the University of Milan found.

Mario Dell’Agli, the lead researcher, said that experiments showed that icariin, a compound found inside the horny goat weed, blocks PDE5, an enzyme which limits blood flow to the penis and therefore prevents erections.

Sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, also works by inhibiting PDE5. It is thought to be 80 times more effective than icariin. However, Mr Dell’Agli said that by producing a modified version of the horny goat weed molecule, a compound that “works as well as Viagra” can be produced.

Mr Dell’Agli and his colleagues tested four plants which are regarded as natural aphrodisiacs in their traditional cultures. Only horny goatweed was found to have an effect.

“This could be the natural Viagra,” said Mr Dell’Agli. “We have synthesised a new molecule that one day may be able to replace Viagra.”

In addition, a new drug could have fewer downsides than Viagra, Mr Dell’Agli said. People with heart problems are unable to take Viagra because it also affects enzymes crucial to heart function. Tests suggest the horny goat weed alternative does not have the same side-effect.

Mr Dell’Agli said that further tests were necessary and that it would be at least 10 years before any drug was available to consumers.

http://tinyurl.com/4udp98

Posted by Drew458     on 09/30/2008 at 09:36 AM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff • Health-Medicine •  
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   Saturday - September 27, 2008

A public service announcement

This post is neither from or about Europe

September is was Library Card Sign-up Month.

(Who decides these things?)

This meant . . . a poll. Another useless poll. Full of useless facts. Facts like:

two thirds (68%) of Americans currently own a library card.

I’m not sure I believe it is that low. I’d like to know their definition of ‘American’. Do they include hostile invaders illegal aliens? That would bring the percentage down.

Some other worthless ‘facts’ from this poll:

Posted by Christopher     on 09/27/2008 at 09:50 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • Odd-Strange •  
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   Wednesday - August 13, 2008

Patients ‘should not expect NHS to save their life if it costs too much’

It’s Natl. Health. It’s costly.  But what about the folks who have paid into the system for a lifetime? Anyway, this really is cold.
The Brits LOVE making words out of various initials. Sometimes not even words. OK, maybe not the Brits but the newspapers. They always lump a few letters together after the name of someplace or thing.
Now here, the letters NICE until very recently stood for, National Institute for Health and Excellence. Or something very close. Suddenly it’s, Health and Clinical Guidelines
But no matter. this is National Health in action if this goes thru.  And I believe every word of this article.  If you lived here, you would as well.

Just another reason no doubt Chris and LyndonB are leaving this place.

The NHS should not always attempt to save someone’s life if the cost is too much, the medical regulator has ruled
By Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor
Last Updated: 1:55PM BST 13 Aug 2008

Doctors have also criticised the ruling and would be opposed to ignoring a rule of rescue when it introduces a degree of flexibility around extreme cases Photo: IAN JONES
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Guidelines (Nice) has ruled for the first time that saving a life cannot be justified at any cost, in a review of its ethical guidelines.

The ruling - made by the board of the controversial organisation - contradicts advice it received from its own ‘Citizens Council’ which offers advice from a representative sample of the general public.
Nice is facing growing criticism over the number of drugs it is now rejecting which are available throughout Europe and in America. Last week, it refused to sanction four kidney cancer drugs which can double life expectancy.

It has now rejected the so-called “rule of rescue” which stipulates that people facing death should be treated regardless of the costs. The rule is based on the natural impulse to aid individuals in trouble.
In a report on “social values judgement” the regulator says: “There is a powerful human impulse, known as the ‘rule of rescue’, to attempt to help an identifiable person whose life is in danger, no matter how much it costs. When there are limited resources for healthcare, applying the ‘rule of rescue’ may mean that other people will not be able to have the care or treatment they need.

“Nice recognises that when it is making its decisions it should consider the needs of present and future patients of the NHS who are anonymous and who do not necessarily have people to argue their case on their behalf…The Institute has not therefore adopted an additional ‘rule of rescue’.”

The ruling contradicts the advice of Nice’s Citizens Council, which said that a rule of rescue was an essential mark of a humane society. The report said that where individuals are in “desperate and exceptional circumstances” they should sometimes receive greater help than can be justified by a “purely utilitarian approach”.

Doctors have also criticised the ruling. Tony Calland, chairman of the ethics committee of the British Medical Association, said: “We would be opposed to ignoring a rule of rescue when it introduces a degree of flexibility around extreme cases. So what if you waste a few pounds if you are doing your best for humanity?”

Nice defended its ruling last night saying that the Citizens Council provided useful input to its decisions but that the organisation’s role was to determine how best to allocate the health service’s limited resources.

Nice is facing increasing accusations that it is giving undue weight to financial considerations - rather than medical benefits - when making decisions on whether to allow drugs or other treatments on the NHS. Doctors and patients have alleged that they are treated with contempt by the organisation and that life-saving drugs are being unfairly denied.

The Daily Telegraph disclosed yesterday that Nice is preparing to offer patients advice on the medical benefits of drugs that are not available on the NHS. The disclosure is likely to anger patients who face paying tens of thousands of pounds for expensive drugs which may prolong their lives.

http://tinyurl.com/6lgbyf

Posted by Drew458     on 08/13/2008 at 11:04 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • UK •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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