Latest news with #healthscandal
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Six arrests after nearly 250 children poisoned by lead in their food in China
Six people have been arrested in China after nearly 250 children were found to have high levels of lead in their blood, investigators have said. Another 17 individuals are also "under disciplinary investigation", including the head of a local hospital, while 10 government officials have been held "accountable". It comes after a scandal involving Heshi Peixin kindergarten in Maiji, northwestern China, emerged earlier this month. Police said staff at the private kindergarten had been adding paint powder to food in an apparent bid to make it look more appealing. Testing showed 247 out of 251 of the kindergarten's children and 28 members of staff had "abnormal blood levels". A further five children who finished attending the kindergarten in 2024 also recorded abnormal levels of lead in their blood, according to investigators. A Sky News team in Maiji had been accused of returning tests for lead showing much lower levels than at the bigger hospitals. Investigators have now found the management of the Second People's Hospital of Tianshui was "chaotic" and its laboratory department had been illegally modifying the results of the blood lead tests. The head of the hospital is one of the 17 people facing disciplinary investigation. Sky News was told how one child was found to have lead in her blood at 38 times the normal level. Read more from Sky News: Lead poisoning at high levels can cause long term injuries to the brain and the central nervous system. A mother who lived near the kindergarten said: "Now if people send children to primary school, the first thing they ask is are you safe? "Can it guarantee the personal safety of our children in the future?"
Washington Post
19-06-2025
- Washington Post
Czech family of 3 is accused of running a fake dental clinic
PRAGUE — Czech police say they have detained three suspects who allegedly treated patients in a fake dental clinic without a proper licence or professional training. Police in a statement Wednesday said dozens of people visited the clinic after the family of three opened it at their home in the town of Havlíčkův Brod, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Prague, two years ago. The trio made 4 million Czech koruna ($185,000) before they were detained earlier this month.
Daily Mail
15-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Lucy Letby supporter claims neo-natal unit where baby serial killer worked was 'not fit for purpose'
The Countess of Chester Hospital's neo-natal unit was 'not fit for purpose' before Lucy Letby started murdering babies, a former nurse who worked there has claimed. Michele Worden said redundancies led to a loss of senior staff and plumbing issues created a 'perfect storm' for care failings. The former advanced nurse practitioner left the Countess after being made redundant in 2007, four years before Letby started working and eight years before her killing spree began. She told the Nursing Times that when the unit was downgraded in around 2006 and stopped caring for very premature babies under 27 weeks, senior nurses were replaced with junior staff who were asked to care for infants 'above their capabilities [and] training.' She said: 'It wasn't just the neonatal unit that wasn't fit for purpose, the whole maternity and paediatric and gynaecology… was not fit for purpose. 'The problems with the sewage and blocked sinks were not just [on] the neonatal unit, it was on the labour ward, it was all over.' Ms Worden said she believed the situation at the Countess of Chester was 'no different' to other NHS hospitals where maternity scandals have been uncovered in recent years. 'Hopefully Lucy will be exonerated,' she said. 'Chester is no different than Shrewsbury, Nottingham, Morecambe Bay. Women and children's healthcare has never been a high priority.' Letby, 38, is serving 15 whole life terms after being convicted of the murder of seven babies and attempted murder of seven more, including one baby girl she tried to kill twice. Plumber Lorenzo Mansutti, estates manager at the Countess, was the only witness called by Letby in her defence at her Manchester Crown Court trial. He admitted drainage problems were a 'weekly' issue at the hospital's 50-year-old Women's and Children's Building and told the jury that he remembered an incident when raw sewage backed up into sinks in the intensive care nursery. But he said it was a 'one off' and insisted that at no point were staff unable to wash their hands because the hospital had 'backup' portable handwashing units on site. The problem was not logged as a formal incident, so no exact date for the incident could be found. Letby's trial heard that none of the seven babies who died collapsed due to a bacterial infection associated with poor sewage. Cheshire police are continuing to investigate the former nurse and last year confirmed they had questioned her in prison in connection with more baby deaths. But, following a presentation from 14 international experts in February, who claim none of the babies were murdered but died due to poor care, there has been a continued chorus of people questioning the safety of her convictions. Letby has twice applied and been refused leave to appeal, but her new legal team have submitted a file of evidence to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice, in a last ditch attempt to get her convictions overturned. They claim the testimony of lead prosecution expert Dewi Evans was biased and that he changed his mind over the method of murder of one of the children murdered by Letby, a boy known as Baby C. Dr Evans has denied this and the Court of Appeal has already dismissed claims he was not suitably qualified or lacked independence. Yesterday it emerged that Dr Evans, who has been subjected to intense trolling online from Letby supporters, had been involved in an online row with one of them - an anonymous statistician who Dr Evans accused of being motivated by a sexual attraction to Letby. According to the statistician, Dr Evans wrote: 'You seem very intense, and it's not unusual for men to have the hots for pretty young blonde females. A nursing uniform is a turn-on for some by all accounts. 'I would suggest you need to get out more, find yourself an available pretty young blonde female, with/without nursing credentials. But one who doesn't go to work intent on murdering her patients.' The statistician said it was 'absurd' to say he believed Letby was innocent because she was 'blonde and pretty' and insisted he had come to that view after reviewing the transcripts of the trial.
BreakingNews.ie
27-05-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Three board members of Children's Health Ireland resign
Three board members of Children's Health Ireland (CHI) have resigned, the Minister for Health has said. Jennifer Carroll MacNeill confirmed the resignations during an interview on RTÉ Radio. Advertisement It comes after several controversies involving CHI, including a report published on Friday that found many children underwent 'unnecessary' hip surgeries in two Dublin hospitals. The clinical audit of dysplasia of the hips surgeries in children found that a lower threshold for operations was used at CHI Temple Street hospital and the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh (NOHC) than the threshold used at CHI Crumlin. The review discovered that in the period 2021 to 2023 almost 80 per cent of children operated on at the NOHC, and 60 per cent of those at Temple Street, did not meet the threshold for surgery. The 2,259 children who underwent hip surgeries in the three hospitals (NOHC, CHI Temple Street and CHI Crumlin) from as far back as 2010 will now be subject to clinical reviews. Advertisement Opposition TDs have called for a public inquiry and for CHI to be fully subsumed into the HSE. The CHI hospital group is a distinct entity from the HSE, although it is funded by the HSE and accountable to it. People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said the hip dysplasia issue was a 'horrendous scandal' and there was a 'very fundamental problem of governance' in CHI. 'I think CHI is not fit for purpose as currently set up. I think that's kind of part of what a public inquiry needs to look at, but it needs to be quick.' Advertisement
The Sun
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
I had no idea I had hep C for 40 years – my GP failed to tell me I tested positive as it slowly destroyed my life
FRANK Jamieson says his GP practice failed to tell him he had a potentially deadly virus - more than 20 years after he tested positive. 'It has ruined my life", the 58-year-old, from Inverclyde, in Scotland, said. 1 "I have suffered from depression for a long time and have lost everything". Frank was only told last October that he had hepatitis C, which he likely contracted 40 years ago during a leg operation after a road accident in 1984. Hep C is a blood-borne virus which, left untreated, can cause liver cancer and liver failure. It usually displays no symptoms until the virus damages the liver enough to cause liver disease, at which point it can cause fatigue and difficulty concentrating. 'My health was so bad, and I had no idea why," Frank said. "It turned out they were all symptoms of hep C,' he added. It is also linked to cardiovascular disease, mental health issues, kidney disease and musculoskeletal pain. Frank's infection is part of the wider contaminated blood scandal, which saw thousands in Scotland and the UK infected with hepatitis C and HIV from NHS blood products in the 1970s and 80s. He later discovered his GP surgery, Ardgowan Medical Practice in Greenock, knew he tested positive back in 2002, with results confirmed in January 2003. 'The surgery had my results but they never passed them on,' Frank said. Infected Blood Inquiry: Police should look into prosecutions says Labour MP 'After all those years of going to the doctor, and that information being on my file, they are blaming me.' Frank's positive test came just as he and his now wife were preparing for another round of IVF. 'I had my blood tests taken in late 2002 because my now wife and I were set to go through another round of IVF,' he said. 'We had two unsuccessful tries on the NHS and were going to pay for a third.' But that Christmas, both lost their jobs when the company closed, halting their plans. 'Our lives fell apart. We still got married, but we couldn't afford the IVF, so we weren't able to try again,' Frank explained. What is the infected blood scandal? More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after being given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. As many as 140,000 bereaved parents, children and siblings of victims may also be able to claim compensation in their own right Two main groups of NHS patients were affected by what has been called the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. Firstly, haemophiliacs - and those with similar disorders - who have a rare genetic condition which means their blood does not clot properly. People with haemophilia A have a shortage of a clotting agent called Factor VIII, while people with haemophilia B do not have enough Factor IX. In the 1970s, a new treatment using donated human blood plasma was developed to replace these clotting agents. But entire batches were contaminated with deadly viruses. After being given the infected treatments, about 1,250 people in the UK with bleeding disorders went on to develop both HIV and hepatitis C, including 380 children. About two-thirds later died of Aids-related illnesses. Some unintentionally gave HIV to their partners. Another 2,400 to 5,000 people developed hepatitis C on its own, which can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer. It is difficult to know the exact number of people infected with hepatitis C, partly because it can take decades for symptoms to appear. A second group of patients were given contaminated blood transfusions after childbirth, surgery or other medical treatment between 1970 and 1991. The inquiry estimates that between 80 and 100 of these people were infected with HIV, and about 27,000 with hepatitis C. In total, it is thought about 2,900 people have died. He added: 'Hepatitis C can cause infertility. We would have known that then if we'd had the results.' The practice told Frank patients had to call within seven days for test results - but they have no record of him ever making that call. 'I asked them, where were the results all those years? Were they sitting in a drawer until I phoned?' he added. The virus caused Frank severe health problems, including nerve and joint pain and Raynaud's phenomenon - symptoms that appeared five years ago. 'I have been suicidal' Fortunately, Frank, who worked as an engineer until ill health forced him to give up work, is now free of hep C after undergoing anti-viral treatment. He is now under the care of the SAMH charity (Scottish Action for Mental Health) as well as the NHS's local community mental health team. They are helping him manage his depression and ongoing health challenges. 'I have been suicidal,' he said. 'Right now, I don't want to be here.' Frank hopes to raise awareness so others in Inverclyde don't suffer the same fate. 'There might be other people out there who have missed blood test results, who have hep C or something else and who don't know,' he warned. Now free of the virus after antiviral treatment, Frank is determined to hold his GP practice accountable. 'I want justice. I want to be heard, and I want Ardgowan Medical Practice to take responsibility for what happened,' he said. His complaints to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman were rejected due to the passage of time. But Frank is pursuing support through the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme - a body that helps people infected by NHS blood products with compensation and support. 'My journey is just beginning,' he said. Ardgowan Medical Practice declined to comment when approached by the Greenock Telegraph.
