Spain may legalise assisted suicide, health minister says
Spain may see the legalisation of assisted suicide in the near future if proposed reforms of the law are carried out, the country's health minister, Bernat Soria, has said. The reforms are intended to reduce unnecessary suffering among patients, Dr Soria explained.
Other news published on 17 September:
Campaigners seek release of Iranian doctors
Concern is growing for the welfare of two doctors who have been held without charge in Iran for almost three months. The two brothers, Arash and Kamiar Alaei, are both world renowned specialists in HIV and infectious diseases.
Other news published on 16 September:
- Vulvovaginal surgery is being carried out without evidence of safety or benefits, gynaecologists say
- Organisations reluctantly come out in support of top-up payments
- Most community mental health patients are happy with care but more want talking therapy
- World still faces big challenges in meeting millennium development goals, says UN
- Myeloma patient wins fight for drug not yet approved by NICE
Doctors must do more to identify child abuse, Dutch association says
The Dutch Medical Association is urging its members to speak out if they suspect child abuse. Between 100 000 and 170 000 cases, resulting in at least 50 deaths, are believed to occur in the Netherlands each year. But only about 2% of reports in 2007 originated from doctors.
Other news published on 15 September:
New antibiotics are needed as resistance grows, expert says
Drug regulators should ensure that unnecessary hurdles don't prevent the licensing of new antibiotics, David Livermore, director of the UK Health Protection Agency's antimicrobial resistance monitoring unit, has said. He also highlighted an urgent need for the pharmaceutical industry to work towards developing new treatment options to tackle infections caused by multiresistant, gram negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli. (Picture credit: NIAID/CDC/SPL).
No evidence that presumed consent increases organ donation
Spain may have the highest organ donation rate in Europe but evidence suggests this is not down to their system of presumed consent but rather, claim experts, to the excellent support given to families of potential donors. As a system of presumed consent looks likely to be introduced in the UK, doctors are now questioning whether the money would not be better spent on more transplant coordinators.
Other news published on 11 September:
Misuse of harmful, illegal stimulant drugs grows in developing world, UN warns
The misuse of drugs like amphetamine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy (pictured), is worsening in developing nations, warns a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (Picture credit: SPL)
Other news published on 10 September:
