M1 shut after tanker crash in South Yorkshire

Personal Injury Yorkshire

A large-scale clean-up operation has been carried out after a tanker carrying more than 20 tonnes of waste yeast overturned on the M1.

The lorry, initially reported to be carrying Marmite, crashed and spilt its contents onto the carriageway at about 22:15 GMT on Monday.

Police closed the motorway in both directions between junctions 32 and 33 near Sheffield following the accident.

The Highways Agency said both carriageways had since reopened.

A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said the tanker overturned after being involved in a collision with a motor caravan.

Pollute waterways

The tanker driver was taken to hospital but the driver's injuries were not believed to be serious.

The Environment Agency was called in to assist in the clean-up after fears that the yeast could pollute local waterways.

Environment Agency area incident controller Colin Atkinson said: "Brewers yeast can have a devastating impact on wildlife in watercourses because it strips the water of oxygen, suffocating the fish.

"Our incident team worked with the Highways Agency to create a bund to contain the yeast. This prevented it from flowing into nearby Ulley Brook and the River Rother which is an important coarse fishery and is used by many anglers.

"Tankers were brought in to take the yeast waste away and our environment officers are checking oxygen levels in the waterways to make sure no pollution has escaped."

source: bbc.co.uk

Breast implants in focus after cancer death

PIP Implant Claims

Two women have developed serious illnesses after they received defective French-made silicone breast implants. Last week, a woman died from lymphatic cancer thought to have been contracted from her breast implants.

A 36-year-old woman called Leaticia was diagnosed last month with ruptured breast implants, according to the French daily Aujourd’hui en France.

Her implants burst six months ago and the silicone gel has leaked into her shoulders, breasts and ribs. Leaticia was operated on in Spain where she received breast implants manufactured by Poly Implant Prothèses (PIP).

Another women who received PIP implants has been diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. It is not yet clear what caused the cancer, but doctors advising a group representing the victims of PIP breast implants suspect the silicone gel used in PIP implants.

French implant manufacturer PIP was closed down by health authorities last year after they discovered the company was using non-medical silicone gel in implants which were twice as likely to rupture as other products in the same category. The company CEO is accused of fraud.

While it is feared that the silicone gel used in the PIP implants is linked to cancer, French health watchdog AFFSAPS has not been able to establish a link.

Last week, a woman - the first in France - died of lymphatic cancer in the southern city of Marseille after her PIP breast implants burst.

It is feared 44,000 women are still carrying PIP breast implants, which were sold in France, Spain and the United Kingdom.

source: thelocal.fr

Bone marrow cancer hope as scientists identify gene that increases risk by 30 per cent

Cancer Claims

Scientists have made a key breakthrough in the search for a better treatment for bone marrow cancer.

For the first time they have identified the genes responsible for an aggressive form of the disease, called multiple myeloma.

Having the genes can increase a person's the risk of developing the condition by 30 per cent, a study has revealed.

It was already known that relatives of those suffering from the incurable cancer were at increased risk, but until now, no responsible gene had been identified.

It is now hoped the discovery will prompt improvements in diagnosis and treatment.

Researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) used a technique called a genome wide association study to scan the DNA of 1,675 patients with multiple myeloma.

The same process was also carried out on around 5,900 healthy people.

When results were compared scientists discovered that two regions of the DNA that were more common in people with multiple myeloma and were therefore linked to a higher chance of developing the disease.

Professor Gareth Morgan from the ICR and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust said that the findings, published in the online journal Nature Genetics, are particularly important as the disease becomes more prevalent among an aging population.

He said: 'Multiple myeloma is an aggressive cancer that sadly has poor survival rates.

'By learning more about the biology of multiple myeloma development, we hope to identify new drug targets - or even existing drugs - that could improve patient outcomes.

'Multiple myeloma is becoming more common as the population ages, and so it is even more important that we find new treatments.'

Myeloma, is a type of bone marrow cancer which affects the plasma cells inside the bone marrow, which are an important part of the immune system.

Usually it doesn't exist as a lump or tumour and it is only when symptoms such as bone pain and fractures occur that a diagnosis is given.

Currently there is no cure, but treatments such as chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation can control progression of the cancer.

Eric Low, chief executive of Myeloma UK, said: 'Understanding the biological and genetic basis for the onset and progression of myeloma is extremely important and will lead to better screening, earlier diagnosis and treatment in the future.'

Every year in the UK, it's estimated that multiple myeloma affects 60-70 in every million people with the average patient surviving three to five years despite receiving intensive treatment.

source: dailymail.co.uk

Top doctor baffled as death figures put Northampton General Hospital in the worst grouping

Medical Negligence Northamptonshire

A DEATH audit, set to take thousands of hours, is being set up by Northampton General Hospital (NGH) to figure out why its mortality figures are worse than average.

Dr Foster Intelligence’s high-profile Hospital Guide 2011, ordered by the Government, claims to show how many more deaths each hospital has than is expected.

For a number of years, NGH bosses have been among those questioning the number of predicted deaths attributed to their trust statisticians, which then leads to alarming figures of unexpected deaths.

The report published today – which also covers areas such as orthopaedic surgery – puts the hospital in the worst grouping.

After complex sums, the hospital’s number of deaths was given a score of 115 against the national average of 100.

But Dr Sonia Swart, NGH’s medical director, said the hospital was again struggling to understand why so few deaths were expected when its mix of patients appears unremarkable, which then affects how the hospital rates against others in England.

She said: “I’m concerned about it’s because it’s my job to be concerned and I’m very frustrated.

“But I don’t think that, because the way things are calculated puts us worse than the average, it actually makes us unsafe.”

Dr Swart has consistently pointed out the actual numbers of deaths at NGH were among the lowest in the East Midlands. Between 2010 and 2011 there were 1,072 deaths out of 27, 685 patients.

However, Dr Foster believed there should only have been 964 deaths.

The hospital has set up a group of doctors to analyse the paper records of every patient who dies, usually around 1,000 a year, in far more detail.

Doctors admit NGH’s recording of the masses of data that is passed to Dr Foster can be poor or inconsistent and is seeing if the expensive detailed analysis work it has already done to improve key areas – such as aortic aneurysms – can be widened.

It will also seek to find out why the predicted deaths were so low.

Dr Swart said: “The indicators were never designed to compile league tables for patients.

“They were designed to alert clinicians that there may be a problem so they could investigate.”

source: northamptonchron.co.uk

Charity event raises money for Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance

Personal Injury Northamptonshire

A CHARITY ball has remembered a Northampton grandfather who died in an accident at work.

The Waistcoats and Tiaras ball, held at The Marriott Hotel, in Brackmills, Northampton, on Saturday night, raised more than £16,000 for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance in memory of 58-year-old Roy Claringbold.

He died in November last year while working as a refuse collector for Kingsthorpe-based Veolia Environmental Services.

More than 150 people enjoyed a three-course dinner, music from a live band, a disco, a raffle, and a charity auction, with prizes including tickets to a West End show and signed Premier League football club merchandise.

Mr Claringbold’s widow, Tracy, said: “The event was down to my brother, Andrew Southgate, and his wife, Mandie.

“It was absolutely fantastic, I can’t believe the amount of money we raised.

“The support was overwhelming.

“It’s been a very tough year, we have been left devastated.

“I walked through the door when I got home and saw pictures of Roy, and thought ‘if he could know what was done tonight in his memory’.”

The Chronicle & Echo reported in November last year how Roy Claringbold was found dead at the wheel of his cab with severe head injuries.

He was believed to have been collecting waste from outside The Clocktower pub in Emerson Valley, Milton Keynes, on his rounds when he was injured.

Thames Valley Police, who led an initial investigation, said he appeared to have got back into his lorry and driven to a nearby street, where he lost consciousness. Mr Claringbold was taken to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital by the air ambulance, but died a week later.

An inquest in June found his death was as the result of an accident.

source: northamptonchron.co.uk