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Medical Defence Union Supports Apologies To Patients But Says No Need For Duty Of Candour
Doctors already have a professional duty to provide patients with an explanation and apology when something goes wrong and the Medical Defence Union"s experience is that doctors do raise concerns and there is no need for a legal duty of candour. Each month the Medical Defence Union (MDU), takes several calls to its 24-hour advice line on the subject and opens files to assist medical members who want to raise concerns about patient safety.
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Washington Post Examines Future Of USAID, Foreign Policy Reports Farmer No Longer Under Consideration For Agency Top Spot
USAID, "the main U.S. foreign aid agency is in limbo, entering its seventh month without a permanent director despite pledges by the Obama administration to expand development assistance and improve its effectiveness in poor countries," the Washington Post reports in an article examining the agency"s prospects and concerns that changes could reduce its clout. "While [Secretary of State Hillary Rodham] Clinton has championed additional personnel for USAID, aid groups worry that the once-autonomous agency could be swallowed up in the State Department, with long-term development goals losing out to short-term political aims," the Washington Post writes. The article includes comments from development experts and administration officials on USAID"s future.
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CDC Prioritizes H1N1 Vaccinations For Pregnant Women
When the H1N1 flu vaccine becomes available in the fall, pregnant women should be among the first groups vaccinated because of their high risk for serious complications, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert panel said on Wednesday, the Washington Post reports. The 15-member committee advises CDC on vaccine policy. The priority list also includes caretakers of infants, health care workers, children and young adults, and older people with chronic conditions. Anthony Fiore, a physician and epidemiologist at CDC, told the committee that about 6% of H1N1 deaths and hospitalizations are among pregnant women (Brown, Washington Post, 7/30). According to a CDC study published online Wednesday in the journal Lancet, pregnant women who contract the H1N1 virus -- also known as "swine flu" -- are at least four times more likely to be hospitalized than other people with the virus, the AP/Google reports. The study analyzed the first 34 U.S. cases, including six deaths, in pregnant women from April to mid-June of 2009. Although it is not clear if pregnant women are more susceptible to the virus, they have a higher risk of complications after becoming infected. The study"s authors said pregnant women suspected of having H1N1 should be administered Tamiflu as soon as possible, prior to the completion of diagnostic testing. CDC"s Denise Jamieson, the lead author of the study, said that Tamiflu appears relatively safe for pregnant women, despite limited safety data on its use in that population.Most pregnant women who contract H1N1 have mild flu symptoms like a cough or fever, according to the World Health Organization. Jamieson said that CDC does not recommend specific precautions for pregnant women but that doctors should act quickly -- preferably within 48 hours -- if a pregnant woman shows symptoms. She added that the pregnant women who died were basically healthy, and nearly all had viral pneumonia before experiencing acute respiratory problems prior to their death (Cheng, AP/Google, 7/29).CDC"s priority groups include about 159 million people out of a total U.S. population of more than 300 million, the Chicago Tribune reports. The agency expects to have about 120 million doses of the vaccine by the end of October. Officials are confident there will be enough for their target groups because only 20% to 50% of those recommended to receive seasonal flu vaccines seek them out. However, if supplies of the vaccine are unexpectedly restricted, the panel recommended that a smaller group -- about 41 million of the most susceptible to adverse side effects from infection or most likely to spread the virus -- be given priority for the vaccine. This smaller group also includes pregnant women (Maugh, Chicago Tribune, 7/30).
Mental Health

The UK's 'taste Dialects' Defined For The First Time

Where we are born not only determines how we speak but also how we taste our food and drink. The taste preferences of the UK"s major regions have been analysed by Professor Andy Taylor, an expert in flavour technology at The University of Nottingham and Greg Tucker a leading food psychologist. Professor Taylor of the Flavour Research Group said: "Taste is determined by our genetic make-up and influenced by our upbringing and experience with flavours. Just as with spoken dialects, where accent is placed on different syllables and vowel formations, people from different regions have developed enhanced sensitivities to certain taste sensation and seek foods that trigger these." The Flavour Research Group in the School of Biosciences studies the link between the flavour in a food and the way it is sensed when we eat the food. This involves chemical, physical, psychological, sensory and brain imaging studies. Professor Taylor and Greg Tucker were interested in the development our taste preferences. Greg Tucker, from the Marketing Clinic, conducted a detailed programme of face to face interviews as well as consulting the company"s database built up from over ten thousand interviews on numerous food and drink studies. Together they analysed the data. The research, commissioned by Costa Coffee, proved that each region in the UK has its own unique "Taste Dialect" of flavours and textures which have been forged by culture, geography and the environment. Their key findings were: -- The UK"s favourite regional foods stem from the West Country. Nearly a third of people polled preferred foods traditional to the South West, particularly Cheddar Cheese and Devonshire Cream Teas. -- Scots are the slowest eaters and contrary to folklore, prefer Yorkshire Pudding and Italian Ice Cream because of their mouth-melting properties, dispelling the myth that all Scots love foods like Haggis and Kippers. -- People from the North East seek tastes that offer immediate satisfaction, borne from a history of hungry heavy industry workers demanding foods that offer immediate sustenance. -- The Midlands is known to be the Balti centre of the UK, but the research proved that people from the area were predisposed to enjoy Asian food long before it arrived in the UK. The region"s taste dialect is for soft, suckable foods that impact the front of the tongue, have a slightly sweet dimension and can be eaten with their hands like naan. -- The South: A melting pot of people and cultures from all round the UK and abroad, the South/South East of England has the least defined taste dialect of all the regions. Foods such as jellied eels and Whitstable Oysters are still redolent of the area but no longer represent mainstream choices or underpin a regional palate. -- Coffee is the earliest recalled taste memory for under eighteens. In all regions, people noted the importance of getting a "good" rather than "average" cup of coffee. -- A quarter of Brits said that London was where they"d had their worst taste experience. The researchers also discovered that each region"s taste dialect was found in different parts of the tongue. For instance the Scots specifically seek rich, creamy flavours that are sensed at the back of the tongue and people from the North East prefer tastes which impact on the tip of the tongue. Nottingham University


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