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A boy aged 6 years old who suffered brain damage in a fall at his nursery has been awarded substantial damages to help pay for his care. Young James Pitcher now requires 24 hour care following a fall from a changing table at the Headstart Nursery in Croydon in August 2004.

According to the BBC, the incident left James quadriplegic and unable to swallow effectively. He is not expected to live past 15. In 2008 he was allocated £1,320,000 and the final sum for the care will remain confidential.
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I have authored several articles in the last couple of months with the subject of violent assaults and the often tragic and devastating consequences they can result in. It’s never nice to hear of a story of a violent and unprovoked assault in any circumstances, and in particular in one’s home city of Hull in an area that I myself have enjoyed the odd walk or two, at the marina near Hull’s famous ‘The Deep’ aquarium.

Hull Crown Court yesterday heard of the drink fuelled assault that ended in tragedy as two teenagers pleaded guilty to murder and robbery, the Daily Mail has reported (source).

In the early hours of 7^th April 2009, 35 year old Simon Ash had gone for a late night stroll on the marina to clear his head when he was unfortunate enough to be sighted by two teenage thugs looking for trouble after a night of heavy drinking. The pair stalked Mr Ash who subsequently dialled 999 and informed local police he was being followed and chased by the teens, and told the operator “they are trying to kick my head in.”
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A national day of mourning is taking place in Russia today after the death toll hits 112 following a blaze at the Lame Horse Nightclub in the city of Perm, Sky News (source) and the BBC have reported (source).

It is reported that around 130 people were admitted to hospital with serious burns and 80 victims were flown to Moscow St Petersburg and Chelyabinsk for medical treatment. Entertainment events and television programs have been cancelled with flags flying at half mast as Russia mourns the tragedy and pays its respects to the victims and the families of those involved.

People have gathered at the central morgue in Perm to lay flowers and light candles outside the venue the tragedy occurred at, and the first funerals have in the central cathedral in Perm with all day memorial services taking place.
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7 cancer patients are set to sue a hospital for medical negligence after wrongly being given the ‘all clear’ following errors in the screening program.

The error took place at Accrington Victoria Hospital in East Lancashire and there are actually 18 reported cases of misdiagnosis!

The errors were down to one radiologist whom had failed to pick up on the disease on reviewing the screening results. It is reported that he has thankfully not worked for the trust since April this year but that does not make up for the lives he has jeopardised!
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A hospital in Plymouth has admitted to numerous failings in its treatment of a 79- year-old man.

According to the BBC, Mr Cecil Barnes was admitted to hospital in July 2008 to undergo surgery on his bladder. However, he collapsed on his return to the ward and equipment used to resuscitate him was either faulty or used incorrectly and he later died.

Following his collapse, the first machine that staff used to try and clear his airway and resuscitate him was faulty. A different machine was brought in but the staff were unfamiliar with the equipment and it was not properly switched on.  A third machine was then tried, but again this was not switched on because staff did not regularly use it and did not know how to operate it.
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The BBC have reported on the case of Mark Thomas, aged 20, whom developed meningitis following an ear infection in 2002.

The ear infection lead to further complications and his family rushed him to Walsall manor hospital where blood tests were taken. Mr Thomas was sent home and his test results were not reviewed for 5 days; even on review of the test results he was not called back for treatment.

Mr Thomas later developed pneumococcal meningitis and by the time he was diagnosed he had already suffered neurological injury.

Medical expert’s have confirmed that if the results had been reviewed and acted upon promptly then he could have received the appropriate antibiotic treatment and would not have suffered brain damage.
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Nearly one in 10 hospital prescriptions contain an error, according to research conducted at the University of Manchester.

According to the BBC, the mistakes in the prescriptions range from the minor to the potentially lethal, however the General Medical Council (or GMC) has found that very few of the errors made would cause serious harm.

The study was conducted after concerns that novice doctors were making prescription errors. However, the study showed that they were no more responsible than experienced doctors.

Of 124,260 prescriptions examined across 19 hospitals, just under 9% contained errors. The vast majority of the errors were caught and corrected before reaching the patient however, of the 11,077 errors which were discovered, 2% of them contained potentially lethal instructions.
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Any products we purchase must be safe to use and to a sufficient standard, with most products nowadays undergoing rigorous health and safety testing to ensure no one can come to harm from its use.

It’s an important element in the Sale of Goods and Services Act 1982 (source), and is even more important when the product is for infant use.

Sky news has reported of a call for a ban on a particular type of baby bottle that contains a chemical that is believed to be linked with breast cancer among other conditions (source). The National Childbirth Trust claims there is “compelling evidence” that the chemical can lead to serious health conditions with some experts believing children are even more vulnerable to the effects.
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Two men have each been fined £2000 after 10 people were hurt following the collapse of a fairground ride in Suffolk. Fairground owner Walter Shufflebottom was found guilty of failing to properly maintain the fairground, while Inspector Frederick Meakin, of the Fairground Inspection Services in Leicestershire, had examined the ride on which the incident occurred on two occasions.

According to the BBC, both men admitted safety breaches over the incident, which occurred in Long Melford in November 2007.

The incident involved several cars on the Hellraiser ride coming loose and crashing in to each other. One of the injured parties, a woman aged 24, suffered multiple injuries including broken ribs.
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A four-year-old boy has been killed after he was mauled by an illegal breed of dog. The dog was a “pitbull-terrier type” and as such was banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act. John Paul Massey died from head and neck injuries following the attack at his grandmother’s home in Wavertree.

According to the BBC, his grandmother, Helen Foulkes, was also attacked as she tried to protect her grandson from the dog and received bites to her legs and body. Merseyside police have been forced to apologise, as they failed to follow up the complaints of a housing officer, who suspected illegal dog breeding was taking place. The police are alleged to have stated that it was not a police matter.
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