Five hospital patients have settled claims out of court which all related to hip and shoulder surgery conducted by the same surgeon.

The five men were all treated by Mr Manjit Bhamra who worked as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Rotherham General Hospital between 2005 and 2007 and who has since left the hospital.

The claims, against Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, total over £750,000 and lawyers representing the five men say that more patients may have been affected. One of the five, Wayne Pickering, had hip revision surgery in 2006 and alleges that during the procedure Mr Bhamra fractured his pelvis and damaged his sciatic nerve.

Mr Pickering’s representatives say that the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust has accepted liability for the negligent surgery and that the settlement received by Mr Pickering will cover his ongoing care and rehabilitation costs as well as his lost earnings.

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/regional-news/payouts_agreed_for_surgeon_errors_1_3656261

A new drug has been launched, which will give hope to the 2,500 children in the UK who suffer from severe arthritis.

Systemic juvenile arthritis, which can affect children as young as 18 months, can last into adulthood and can cause death from heart failure if not treated. However in tests two-thirds of youngsters with the disease, who took the drug tocizilumab, were able to return to a normal life.

The trial involved 112 children and showed that after three months treatment with the drug almost three-quarters had shown a 70% improvement in their condition, while after a year two-thirds were able to show a 90% improvement. The emergence of the new drug gives hope to all sufferers of the condition who previously had to rely on anti-inflammatory drugs such as corticosteroids, which had significant side effects and were often ineffective at slowing down the progression of the disease.

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool has treated 12 children with tocizilumab and all have made a good recovery. Dr Eileen Baildam, consultant paediatric rheumatologist at the hospital said: “I hope and expect it will be approved and I think it should be given to children as soon as they are diagnosed to limit the disability caused by this dreadful disease.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2026135/Tocizilumab-Arthritis-drug-allows-bedridden-children-return-normal-life.html

The widow of a man who died after he was given painkillers six times more powerful than the ones he was prescribed, has said that she is to sue for compensation.

Eileen Bradford-Fawson, from Spalding, Lincolnshire, blames surgery and pharmacy staff for a “catalogue of medical negligence errors” that led to her husband, John’s death. An inquest heard that a doctor had prescribed 60 x 10mg of morphine sulphate tablets for pain relief but a dispenser, Lynn Coddington, had handed out a box clearly marked 10 x 60mg.

A barcode system failed to pick up the error and a community nurse, who visited the couple’s home, also said that it was the correct prescription. Eileen gave her husband one of the pills and he died three days later in hospital without regaining consciousness.

The coroner at Spalding Magistrates Court, Maureen Taylor, recorded a verdict of death by natural causes but Eileen said that she cannot accept the verdict and is to take legal action. The surgery has said that it has changed its procedures for dispensing controlled drugs since the death of Mr Bradford-Fawson.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2014204/Grandfather-dies-GP-surgery-hands-morphine-pills-SIX-times-stronger-normal-dosage.html

A new test is soon to be available on the NHS which it is hoped will cut bowel cancer death rates by 3,000 a year.

Everyone in England aged 55 to 64 will be invited to have the test after the UK National Screening Committee approved its adoption onto the NHS programme. The current test, which relies on people sending off stool samples, will be replaced by Flexible sigmoidoscopy, where a thin, bendy tube is inserted into the rectum, enabling doctors to look at the wall of the bowel. They can then remove any polyps which have the potential to develop into bowel cancer.

About 40,000 in the UK develop bowel cancer every year and more than 16,000 die from it. However, if doctors can get to the polyps before they develop, it is hoped that many more lives will be saved. Data indicates that a one-off screening for bowel cancer could reduce the incidence of the cancer by 33% and death rates by 43%. It is not clear how long it will be before the NHS begins to roll out the new screening programme.

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: “Recent trial results of this method of detecting and removing polyps before they develop into bowel cancer can truly be called a breakthrough. We believe this method will save thousands of lives every year once fully rolled out.”

http://www.pressassociation.com/component/pafeeds/2011/04/07/test_could_cut_bowel_cancer_rates?camefrom=health-wire