Cancer: 'Book of knowledge' published

Cancer Misdiagnosis

The first volume of a "book of cancer knowledge" has been published, which scientists say will speed up the search for new cancer drugs.

The "encyclopaedia" details how hundreds of different cancer cells respond to anti-cancer agents.

UK, US and European researchers say the data, published in Nature, is a step towards tailoring cancer medicine to a patient's genetic profile.

A cancer charity said the work would help in testing new cancer drugs.

Cancer cells grown in the laboratory are an essential tool in cancer research.

Hundreds of different cell lines exist, allowing scientists to study the effect of new cancer drugs on the human body.

Now, a team at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge and various cancer institutes around the world have released two papers cataloguing data on hundreds of cancer cell lines.

The UK team, working with colleagues in the US, Paris and Switzerland, screened more than 600 cancer cell lines with 130 drugs, identifying genetic signatures linked with drug sensitivity.

Already clues are emerging that could be of benefit to patients, including the discovery that a rare bone cancer in children (Ewing's sarcoma) appears to be vulnerable to certain drugs.

Personalised medicine

Dr Mathew Garnett of the Sanger Institute is lead researcher on one of the two papers published in the journal Nature.

He told the BBC: "It's bringing together two very large and very powerful data sets and asking which cell line is the most sensitive and what is behind that sensitivity.

"This is the largest study of its kind linking drug response with genetic markers. You need these very large studies to identify small subsets of cells that are sensitive to drugs."

Dr Levi Garraway of The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, US, is a senior member of the research team behind the second paper, which profiled 24 drugs across nearly 500 cell lines.

He told the BBC: "Developing this large cell-line resource with all the associated genetic details is another piece in the pie to get us to our goal of personalised cancer medicine.

"We're trying to get smarter about understanding what the right drug is using the genetic information in each tumour. This is a stepping stone along the way."

The next step is use the information to help decide on tailored treatments for cancer patients.

This would involve getting a genetic "fingerprint" of their tumour, which could be matched to information in the database.

Some cancer drugs are already available for individuals with a certain genetic makeup.

The best known is Herceptin, a breast cancer drug that works in patients with an overactive HER2 gene.

Professor Charles Swanton, based at Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute, said the papers were "an invaluable resource" that provided "extremely useful intelligence" for cancer researchers.

He added: "This new resource will help speed up cancer research and may well begin to guide further developments in personalised cancer medicine."

source: bbc.co.uk

Asbestos: court ruling opens way for insurance claims

Asbestos Claims

The UK Supreme Court has made a ruling which could allow thousands of insurance claims by families of people who died after exposure to asbestos.

The court placed insurance liability at the time an employee was exposed to asbestos, not when symptoms appeared.

Relatives of workers who died of the cancer mesothelioma want to make claims on policies dating from the 1940s.

One insurance firm in the case said the ruling was not its "favoured outcome" but welcomed the clarity it brought.

The Association of British Insurers welcomed the ruling, and blamed a small group of insurers for the legal battle.

The Supreme Court was asked to rule on the issue after judges in lower courts failed to agree.

Families had a success in 2008, when the High Court said firms' insurers at the time workers inhaled fibres were liable.

But two years later the Court of Appeal said that in some cases liability was triggered when symptoms developed - which could be decades after exposure.

Lawyers said the appeal court ruling had left victims' families facing "confusion and uncertainty".

The new ruling by a panel of five Supreme Court justices states that the disease can be said to have been "sustained" by an employee in the period when it was caused or initiated.

One of the judges, Lord Clarke, said: "The negligent exposure of an employee to asbestos during the [insurance] policy period has a sufficient causal link with subsequently arising mesothelioma to trigger the insurer's obligation."

Unite, the largest trade union in Britain and the Irish Republic, welcomed the ruling, which it said will affect "many of the 2,500 people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year".

Unite's challenge was on behalf of the family of Charles O'Farrell, a retired member who died of mesothelioma in 2003.

Commenting on the Supreme Court's decision, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "It is a disgrace that insurance companies went to such lengths to shirk their responsibilities."

Mr O'Farrell's daughter, Maureen Edwards, said: "This is the right decision. I am delighted for all those families who have been awaiting this result.

"My dad worked all his life and was hoping to enjoy retirement before mesothelioma took him away.

"There was never any question about who was to blame - all this long battle was about was insurers wanting to get out of paying."

Nick Starling, director of general insurance and health at the Association of British Insurers, said: "The ABI and our members are committed to paying compensation as quickly as possible to people with mesothelioma who have been exposed to asbestos in the workplace.

"We have always opposed the attempt to change the basis on which mesothelioma claims should be paid, as argued by those who brought this litigation.

"Today's ruling by the Supreme Court has confirmed what most in the industry have always understood - that the insurer on cover when the claimant was exposed to asbestos should pay the claim, rather than the insurer on cover when the mesothelioma develops.

'Financial security'

"This case has been pursued by a small group of 'run-off' insurers acting independently and at odds with the views of the majority of the UK insurance industry. [A "run-off" company is an insurance firm which is no longer accepting new business.]

One of the four insurance companies which contested the proposal to date liability back to the time of exposure was Municipal Mutual Insurance Limited.

It issued a statement saying: "Whilst the ruling does not reflect MMI's favoured outcome, we welcome the clarity this judgment brings as it enables MMI to determine the extent of its liabilities and the available options for the future of MMI and its business.

"MMI participated in the joint action in order to determine the extent of the Company's insurance liabilities under policies it wrote in the period up to September 1992 (the date the Company ceased writing new insurance business).

"MMI has continued to compensate local authority employers for Mesothelioma claims, despite not being obliged to pay out claims until the outcome of the case was known. The underlying claimants (the victims of the disease) who have received compensation from MMI have been paid in full and have not been disadvantaged in any way by the fact that this case was brought."

A lawyer representing the lead claimant said the judgement provided "clarity, consistency and comfort" for the families of thousands of mesothelioma victims.  Asbestos-related disease caused more than 5,000 deaths every year.

The number of people affected by mesothelioma was still rising because of the time it can take for this illness to develop and was expected to peak around 2015, she added.

source: bbc.co.uk

PIP Implant surgeon talks online to BBC breakfast show - Listen online

Howard and Toni at Breakfast on BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester this morning talked to a cosmetic surgeon and a local woman who is upping her campaign on PIP Implants.

Click the photo to listen to the show

source: bbc iplayer

Nottingham named as accident hotspot

Personal Injury Nottinghamshire

NEW figures suggest that drivers in Nottingham are among the worst in the country.

According to Government figures, motorists in Nottingham have more accidents than those in any other city in the country, outside London.

The number of accidents in Nottingham is twice the national average.

For every 1,000 registered vehicles in the city, there are an average of 9.5 accidents, says the research, while the overall national average is 4.7.

Experts say the figures could be down to the number of inexperienced drivers within Nottingham's young population.

Changes to the road layout during development and resulting temporary signage are also believed to be possible reasons for the high figure.

The data could mean Nottingham drivers pay more for their insurance than other cities, according to an industry expert.

Nottingham City Council, which manages the city road network, said drivers should pay more attention to figures which show the number of people hurt in accidents is going down.

Insurance company Staveley Head highlighted the figures as part of an England-wide study using Department for Transport statistics from 2010 – the most recent year available.

Its study puts Nottingham's rate of an average of 9.5 incidents per 1,000 ahead of Manchester in second at 9.3 and Liverpool in third with 8.7.

Peter Murphy, principal lecturer in public service management at Nottingham Business School, said he was not surprised by the numbers. He said: "Nottingham is the second youngest part of the country at an average age of 29.4 years and we have 60,000 students who are inexperienced drivers."

This combined with a city boundary which includes a high number of junctions, new developments and resulting road layout changes could be behind the number, he said.

Mr Murphy added: "If you think about these factors it is not surprising at all.

"But inevitably the number will fall as the amount of change in the city which we've seen slows."

Graeme Trudgill, head of corporate affairs at the British Insurance Brokers Association, said: "Every insurance company is always analysing statistics like this – studies like this are a factor and will have an impact (on premiums)."

Drivers in the city said they were not surprised by the figures

James Denby, 22, of Clifton, said: "Nottingham can be a horrible place to drive – it's always really busy, and the road system is really hard to navigate."

Sarah Graham, 36, who lives in Mansfield but regularly travels into Nottingham, said: "People can be very reckless when they are driving around here. They will do things like suddenly change lane when they are not meant to, which is dangerous, so the figures don't really surprise me."

The incidents include all accidents that happen in the city, including those involving cars registered outside the city.

The company also used data from 2005 to 2010 to identify the roads in the city with the highest number of incidents.

They are Mansfield Road with 176 incidents, Parliament Street with 78 and Maid Marian Way with 49.

Nottingham City Council's traffic control and safety manager Francis Ashton said: "This statistic is only meaningful to an insurance company trying to drum up business."

The number of people killed and seriously injured on the city's roads have fallen by half, from an average of 260 to 138, between 2000 and 2010.

The county has a rate of 4.7 accidents per 1,000 vehicles.

Suzanne Heydon, Notts County Council's group manager for highway safety, said it carried out improvement schemes every year to try to ensure Nottinghamshire's roads are "kept as safe as possible."

source: thisisnottingham.co.uk

Northampton six-year-old starved of oxygen during birth to receive £1 million NHS payout for future care

Medical Negligence Northamptonshire

A YOUNG girl left severely brain damaged after being starved of oxygen during her difficult birth is to receive a £1 million NHS payout.

The six-year-old, who is from the Northampton area but cannot be identified, was “effectively stillborn” following delays in her delivery at Northampton General Hospital in March 2006.

As a result of the serious brain injury she suffered, the girl is severely disabled, has epilepsy, autism and kidney problems, and will need round-the-clock care for the rest of her life.

Through her mother, the child sued Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust and a financial settlement was approved at the High Court, in London yesterday.

She will receive a lump sum of just over £1m, plus annual payments, index-linked and tax free, for the rest of her life, starting at £155,000 and rising to £282,000 when she turns 21.

The trust previously settled a compensation claim by the mother for injuries she sustained during her daughter’s birth.

Her lawyers told the court she was “effectively stillborn” and her brain irrecoverably damaged after her delivery was delayed by more than four hours. James Badenoch QC, for the girl, said: “There were clear signs of hypoxic distress within the womb, but those signs were either ignored or not interpreted correctly. She should have been delivered by Caesarean section at around 4pm, but delivery didn’t happen until around 8.15pm, more than four hours later.”

The trust admitted full liability for the girl’s injuries and its lawyers gave the family an “unreserved apology”. Paul Rees QC, for the trust, said: “Nothing I can say can right the wrong that was done, but the child, her mother and all the family are entitled to hear, in open court, an unreserved apology and, through me, that is given. I would also like to pay a public tribute to the child’s mother and all those who have looked after her. The past six years have demanded much and they have risen to those challenges.”

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Foskett said: “I am always lost in admiration for what parents do in these situations. There is absolutely no doubt at all this is an excellent settlement as far as the child is concerned.”

Solicitor, Russell Levy said: “We’re delighted to have been able to reach a settlement that should ensure all her very substantial needs are catered for, for the rest of her life.”

source: northamptonchron.co.uk

BREAKING NEWS: Pedestrian killed in motorway horror following collision with lorry

Personal Injury Northamptonshire

A STRETCH of the M1 motorway in Northamptonshire was closed today after a female pedestrian was killed after a collision with a lorry.

Traffic was brought to a standstill as a result of the collision on the southbound carriageway of the M1 near Newport Pagnell services.

The northbound carriageway was also temporarily closed to allow the air ambulance to land. Both carriageways are now open.

The pedestrian, a woman who is believed to be in her forties, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sgt Simon Hills, from the Roads Policing Department, said: “It appears that the woman was in lane one of the carriageway at the time she was struck.

“We also found a grey Audi A3 parked on the hard shoulder close to the scene, which we believe belongs to the victim. It has suffered recent damage, but this was not caused by the lorry.”

Anyone with any information who saw the collision with the pedestrian or who saw a collision involving a grey Audi A3 S-Line on the M1 can contact Sgt Hills via the Police Enquiry Centre on 101.

source: northamptonchron.co.uk

Fatal crash near Selby

North Yorkshire Police are appealing for witnesses to a fatal crash involving three vehicles near Camblesforth, in the Selby area last night. It happened on the A1041. One driver, a 59 year old local man, died at the scene.

Three other people were taken to York District Hospital. Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash or saw any of the vehicles - a white Ford Transit van, a grey Skoda Fabia and a black Renault Clio - prior to the accident to get in touch.

source: itv.com

Man dies in Nottinghamshire car-minibus accident

Personal Injury Nottinghamshire

A 25-year-old man has died and nine people have been injured in a collision between a car and a minibus in Nottinghamshire.

Three people had to be cut from the wreckage after the crash on the A38 Sutton Road near Mansfield at 00:30 BST.

One man was taken to the Kings Mill Hospital where he later died.

A 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

A woman, who was travelling in the minibus, was also seriously injured in the accident, which involved a minibus and Renault Clio.

She was taken to hospital where she remains in a serious condition.

The A38 was closed between its junctions with the A60 and the A617 while an investigation was carried out.

source: bbc.co.uk

Mobility scooters: MP Alison Seabeck calls for training

Personal Injury Devon

Compulsory training should be given to people who use a mobility scooter, a Devon MP has said.

Alison Seabeck, the Labour MP for Plymouth Devonport, also called for stricter safety checks and official records to be kept of accidents.

Last year a 79-year-old man from Bodmin in Cornwall was killed when his mobility scooter overturned and pinned him against a wall.

Scoot-A-Long, a charity for disabled people, has backed the MP's campaign.

There are two maximum speeds for mobility scooters - 4mph (6km/h) for scooters which can only be ridden on pavements and 8mph (13km/h) for on-the-road scooters which must have full working lights.

Peter Baldacchino, a spokesman for Scoot-A-Long, said the charity's aim was not to discourage the use of mobility scooters, but to ensure disabled people could "get out and about and enjoy life safely".

The 60-year-old from Polperro has used both types of scooters for 15 years.

He said: "I've got one I keep in the car and one for the road and I'd be completely sunk without them.

"But at the moment there's absolutely no regulations about who can use them - anyone can just go into a shop, buy one and take it straight onto the road.

"There's no wilfulness about it, but there are so many more people using these machines and some just aren't aware of the dangers.

"We think even just one hour of training would give most people the knowledge they need to be safe."

'Balancing act'

Mrs Seabeck has raised the issue in the House of Commons.

"With an increasing ageing population, some action has to be taken to ensure that standards are maintained in terms of the safety of these vehicles and that some basic training is undertaken by all users," she said in an adjournment debate.

"It's important that when they're sold to people who've never driven and they intend to use them on the road, that training is compulsory."

Transport Minister Norman Baker said there was cross-departmental work going on to address the "balancing act" between safety and protecting a lifeline for the disabled and elderly.

"I do think there's an issue about basic training and the safety of these vehicles," he said.

He said the government had plans to change the speed limits for mobility scooters, but from next year police forces would be able to officially record accident statistics involving them.

source: bbc.co.uk

Latest PIP implant data

PIP Implant Claims

This release covers two weekly data collections monitoring the “NHS Offer” for patients who have had PIP implants.

The first collection monitors the extent to which patients who had PIP implants implanted privately have presented to the NHS.

The second collection tracks the care of those women who have previously had PIP implants implanted by the NHS. This collection covers the seven NHS providers which had used PIP implants on NHS patients in the past.

The key points from the latest data are:

Private PIP implants 

• A total of 5,232 referrals have now been received, 300 of these were received during the last week (ie week ending 18 March).
• These referrals have been received by 121 trusts.
• 2,704 scans have now been completed and 197 of these were during the last week.
• The number of decisions to explant now stands at 298 and 75 of these have been explanted to date.
• 1,499 women have completed their NHS offer and 132 of these have been this week
• This collection splits the private patient data into 3 categories (Harley, Transform and Other).  Harley and Transform are separately identified because, according the available information, they have the largest number of patients with PIP implants.  “Other” includes unknown so some of these patients may be identified in later weeks as Harley or Transform patients.

 NHS PIP implants 

• The latest estimate of the number of women with NHS PIP implants in place on 6^th January is 749. 
• A total of 744 women have been contacted to date. 
• 40 scans have been completed.  126 decisions have been made to explant and 21 explants have already taken place.
• 33 women have completed their NHS offer.

Notes 

The point at which the NHS offer is completed will vary according to the circumstances of each woman. Some women will simply want reassurance, others will decide after clinical advice to have their implants explanted by the NHS. 

source: mediacentre.dh.gov.uk

Boy with Cerebral Palsy Benefits from Stem Cell Therapy

Despite the fact that seven-year-old Ethan Radtke was born with cerebral palsy, an expensive stem-cell treatment he underwent in Germany has allowed him to recently walk for the first time in his life.

According to INFORUM, Ethan underwent stem-cell therapy in July 2010 at the Xcell-Center in Dusseldorf, Germany that collected stem cells from his bone marrow and injected it into his spinal fluid to help injured cells heal. Funding for the procedure, which topped $20,000, was gathered through donations from the West Fargo community he and his family live in.

While his cerebral palsy had led to his leg muscles becoming stiff, spastic, and twisted, Ethan was able to take his first steps ever. Over time, he has been able to learn to walk from his bedroom to the couch in his living room. Additionally, the stem cell treatment also improved his speech and the dexterity of his hands.

Later this year, Ethan will undergo a number of surgeries at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Minneapolis to help straighten his legs and hopefully make walking even easier for him.

It is possible to live a relatively normal life with cerebral palsy, but there is a high likelihood that doing so may require a number of medical procedures that an insurance policy may not always cover.

If you have a child born with cerebral palsy that can be attributed to medical negligence, contact gocompensate.com today to learn more about pursuing a birth injury claim. 

source: cisionwire.com

Swindon tops league for safest driving

Personal Injury Gloucestershire

SWINDON may be home to one of the world’s most infamous road junctions and it has banned speed cameras but it has been named the safest town to drive in the UK.

Research compiled by insurer Staveley Head examined accident rates, casualties and road conditions from the Department Of Transport in a review of national road safety.

The results showed Swindon, home to the Magic Roundabout, is in fact the safest place for drivers, with calculations based on accident rates per 1,000 registered vehicles, rather than the total number of incidents.

It comes it at comes in at just 2.0, with the national average more than double this at 4.7.

Of the few accidents recorded in Swindon, most occurred on or around the Magic Roundabout and on the B4289 –the Great Western Way.

Coun Peter Greenhalgh, the Cabinet Member for Council Transformation, Transport and Strategic Planning, said he was delighted with the findings.

“Obviously this is excellent news and I think it is testament to the stance that we take on road safety,” he said.

“We removed our speed cameras a while back which gave us additional funding which we could put into road safety and we have worked closely with the police to improve this.

“We have always said we take road safety seriously and it is encouraging to see that all the efforts we put in are evidently paying off.

“We are looking at long term improvements to both the Magic Roundabout and the Great Western Way.

“We had already identified these hotspots, and this seems to be corroborated by the report, and £12.1m has been put aside to improve the Great Western Way.”

Countywide, Wiltshire took the top spot for the safest roads in England with an average accident rate of 2.5 incidents per 1,000 registered vehicles.

Ashley Peters, the director of Staveley Head, said: “We decided to conduct the research to raise awareness of the disparity in road safety levels across Britain.

“The results for Swindon are fantastic – motorists here really are setting a prime example for the rest of the country."

To find out more information and to see how other areas in the UK fared, visit www.staveleyhead.co.uk/ motoring-news/ accident-blackspots.

source: swindonadvertiser.co.uk

999 rescue bid ends in tragedy

Personal Injury Wales

AMBULANCE staff and a police officer battled in vain to save a Tredegar man after the car he was driving careered off a road and into a canal.

Stuart Richard Hughes, 26, from James Street, drowned after 999 crews were unable to haul him from the sinking car as it disappeared beneath the surface in pitch black conditions.

Two of his friends, who were passengers in the car, managed to scramble onto the roof of the Volvo S60 and were saved.

The three men had been in the Wiltshire town of Devizes to carry out shopfitting work at the local branch of B&Q and were staying at a nearby B&B.

The tragedy happened after the car in which they were travelling crashed through the railings on Prison Bridge, Bath Road, in the town.

The horrific crash happened just before midnight last Thursday.

An inquest, which opened on Monday, heard that Mr Hughes had died of freshwater drowning. Floral and other tributes have been left at the scene by relatives and friends of Mr Hughes.

Great Western Ambulance Service received a 999 call at 11.57pm and paramedic Simon Stigwood was the first on the scene in three minutes.

Jo Munday, Wiltshire Air Ambulance paramedic and PC Kev Reed, observer on the police helicopter, drove to the scene and arrived shortly afterwards, followed by an ambulance with a male paramedic and a male emergency care assistant.

When they got there, the car was sinking, though not fully submerged.

The two male passengers were on the roof but Mr Hughes was trapped in the car. The ambulance staff and PC Reed quickly made the decision to go into the water to rescue the passengers. Jo Munday remained on the bank to direct them.

PC Reed, a police officer for 20 years, said: “We waded in and we got one of the passengers to the bank fairly quickly. The other passenger stayed with us to try and get the driver out but we managed to pull him to the bank.”

PC Reed and the ambulance staff made efforts to get to the driver but were unable to do so.

PC Reed said: “It was very dark, the water was extremely muddy and murky. We couldn’t see the driver in the car. We were reaching down under the water to try to grab hold of the car but it was totally impossible. All of us gave our best attempts to get into the vehicle.

“I did put my head down into the water but to go into a vehicle without visibility was not the safe thing to do. It was better to get the fire service to pull the vehicle out quickly which they did.

“The passengers were distraught and shocked. They had been in the water for some minutes and started to feel the effects of the cold. It was very cold water and it was soft, silty mud at the bottom.

“It was a very unusual, tragic and traumatic incident. Our thoughts are with the family.”

PC Reed said he was not a hero.

“I was just somebody doing their best to save a life. When we were stood on the bank we had two choices – we either get stuck in or not. Not going in wasn’t an option,” he said.

The two passengers were taken by another ambulance crew to the Royal United Hospital, Bath, to be checked over. The three ambulance staff returned to their stations, changed uniform and continued their shift as did PC Reed.

Two fire crews from Devizes were first on the scene and after about ten minutes the car was winched to the bank but was still in the water.

Fire officers managed to winch the car close to the bank and it was then lifted out by a lorry with a crane attachment and the body was recovered.

Norman Webb, 73, of Avon Road, was woken up by the crash.

Mr Webb said: “I heard this almighty bang and thought ‘what the hell was that?’ “

He went downstairs and made himself a cup of coffee then went outside to have a cigarette and heard yelling.

“I heard a lad screaming ‘help me, help me.’ I rang 999 but the police said they already knew about it,” he said.

Terry Hillier, landlord of the nearby Black Horse pub, said he was shocked by the accident.

He said: “I have been here 23 years and it’s the worst accident on the bridge. I was surprised the car went through it like it did.”

source: walesonline.co.uk