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New NHS guidelines: Transgender patients may choose male or female wards
Transgender patients can choose whether they want to be treated on male or female wards, new UK National Health Service (NHS) guidance stipulates. NHS...
FDA launches criminal probe into vaping deaths
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a criminal probe into the recent spike in vaping-related illnesses, which has jumped to 530,...
EU green-lights first cannabis-based medicine for childhood epilepsy
The first cannabis-based medicine for childhood epilepsy is expected to be available soon in the UK and the rest of Europe after its UK...
Return of measles in Europe blamed on 'misinformation'
Following several years of steady progress toward elimination of measles in the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Region, the number of countries having achieved...
World's largest pyschedelics research centre launched
The world's largest pyschaedelics research centre has been launched in the US to examine whether the drugs can treat conditions such as depression and opioid addiction, after...
Visiting 'Elders' urge SA to take the NHI plunge
Former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland has urged MPs not to let concerns about corruption or the weak economy stand in the way...
Strong consensus warning against dangers of compounded HRT
The British Menopause Society (BMS) and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) have warned women away from bioidentical hormone therapy (cBHRT) products, which...
FDA approves treatment for highly drug-resistant forms of TB
Pretomanid, a novel compound developed by the non-profit organisation TB Alliance, has been approved by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for treating...
FDA wants graphic new health warnings for cigarette packs
The US Food and Drug Administration has proposed that cigarette packs carry graphic new health warnings including pictures and text outlining lesser-known risks of...
UK watchdog declines to back cannabis therapy for epilepsy
Medical cannabis cannot be approved for use in children with severe epilepsy on the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) because there is not enough...
Canada legislates to reduce patented drug prices
The Canadian government has announced final regulations to reduce patented drug prices it said would save $10bn over a decade, overriding heavy opposition from...
Teen advocate for vaccines tell UN of harassment and abuse
Ethan Lindenberger – the 18-year-old who famously got vaccinated against his mother’s wishes – has spoken in New York City at a high-level United...
Facebook and YouTube act on misleading, sensational health claims
Facebook and YouTube have announced that they are moving to reduce the spread of misleading health care claims after a media report showed the...
FDA approves controversial female libido drug
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a controversial drug meant to increase women’s desire for sex, a treatment that has rekindled a...
UK authorities to look again at safety of breast implants
The UK medical regulator has indicated it is willing to re-examine whether there is any link between breast implants and a variety of symptoms...
FDA issues ‘serious risk’ alert on on faecal transplants
Following a a faecal transplant patient's death, the US Food and Drug Administration has issued an alert of the potential for ‘serious risk’ from...
Tribunal says China is using organs from killed detainees
An independent tribunal sitting in London has concluded that the killing of detainees in China for organ transplants is continuing, and victims include imprisoned...
Indian doctors strike over violent attacks by patients
About 800,000 doctors across India have gone on strike to demand better working conditions, following years of complaints about violent attacks from patients’ families,...
FDA recommends TB Alliance's MDR-TB treatment regimen
Independent experts of a US Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted in favour of the not-for-profit TB Alliance’s treatment for drug resistant tuberculosis, as...
Trump discontinues all government research using foetal tissue
US government scientists will no longer conduct research using foetal tissue, the Trump administration has announced, granting the wishes of anti-abortion groups and overruling...
Gender non-conformity no longer described as a 'mental disorder'
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has approved a major change to its global manual of diagnoses that will greatly benefit transgender people around the...
UK survey finds 138 GP surgeries closed in 2018
GP surgery closures across the UK have reached an all-time high, affecting an estimated half a million patients last year, The Guardian reports research...
Royal College of GPs wants consultations extended to 15 minutes
GP consultations must be extended from 10 to 15 minutes, given the growing number of people who have several long-term illnesses, according to a report from...
UK failure to introduce sepsis checklist 'cost thousands of lives'
Thousands of children in the UK have died or been left disabled because National Health Service (NHS) bosses have dithered for at least a...
GP may be struck off for asking Muslim women to remove face veil
A UK GP, forced out of work for asking a woman to remove her niqabhas so that he could properly hear her describe her...
Pakistan doctor arrested after 430 children test positive for HIV
A doctor has been arrested in Pakistan after more than 430 children and 100 adults tested positive for HIV, with authorities investigating whether he...
Foreign doctors threaten to quit the UK over 'crippling' fees
Hundreds of overseas doctors are considering quitting the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) in protest at being charged thousands of pounds a year for...
NHS pressures Roche to lower price of MS drug
People in the UK with a rare form of multiple sclerosis will finally get access to a drug that can slow the disease’s progress...
WMA asks doctors not to help lower female athletes' testosterone levels
The World Medical Association (WMA) has asked doctors not to implement the IAAF's new eligibility regulations for classifying female athletes. Sport24 reports that this...
UK campaign for improved access to medical cannabis
Despite a change in the law last year, access to medical cannabis in the UK has been much slower than patients and parents had...
EU reports 17% rise in confirmed cases of gonorrhoea
Following a decline in notification rates in 2016, the number of gonorrhoea cases has gone up by 17% across the reporting EU/EEA (European Economic...
UK investigation discovers patients locked up in 'old style asylums'
A patient locked in a secure ward for more than 21 years is among hundreds of people with mental health problems being kept in...
Dutch fertility doctor fathered 49 children without consent
A Dutch fertility doctor accused of using his own sperm to inseminate patients without their consent has been confirmed as the father of 49...
Fisher-Price recall at urging of American Academy of Pediatrics
Toymaker Fisher-Price has recalled nearly 5m of its Rock 'n Play Sleepers after reports linked the product to dozens of baby deaths. BBC News...
FDA halts sale of all surgical mesh products in the US
The US Food and Drug Administration has halted all US sales of surgical mesh products. Boston Scientific and Coloplast were the last two companies...
Half of patients should not have had mesh surgery, UK hospital admits
Almost half of the patients given a controversial artificial mesh surgical intervention for bowel prolapse should not have been operated upon, an NHS hospital...
MPs urge ban on UK patients travelling to China for organ transplants
UK patients should be banned from travelling to China for transplant surgery, the government has been told, before an inquiry into allegations of forced...
OxyContin maker Purdue settles $270m opioid lawsuit
The maker of OxyContin and the company’s controlling family agreed to pay $270m in a deal announced with the state of Oklahoma to settle...
State of emergency in New York county after measles outbreak
A county in New York state has declared a state of emergency following a severe outbreak of measles. BBC News reports that Rockland County,...
UK now imports more doctors than it trains
Britain is now importing more doctors than it trains, People Management reports statistics from the General Medical Council have revealed. According to the medical...