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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Drink driving – I discussed this yesterday. But it seems there is a lot more out there on road traffic accidents and the effects of drink related driving…

In the run up to Christmas the BBC have reported that the current drink driving limit is to be reviewed by legal experts following a recent move to lower the current limit, and laws are to be tightened on driving under the influence of narcotics (source).

The current drink driving limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood or the equivalent of roughly (and by roughly we mean very roughly – this should not be used as a guide and is a very broad comparative spectrum!) two pints of ordinary strength a beer for a man. An independent research report is to be conducted by Sir Peter North and will be presented to the Transport Secretary Lord Adonis before April 2010.

According to the report, there is growing public concern over the driving under the influence of narcotics and there is support for lowering the drink drive limit to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, coming at the launch of the government’s £1.2m anti-drink-drive campaign for Christmas.
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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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There is a clear reason why driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics is illegal; a person driving under the influence is in no way in full control of their vehicle. It’s no surprise therefore why so many accidents are caused as a result of a driver under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, and it’s the time of year when police step up their game to catch the Christmas and New Year law breakers.

And the results of a road traffic accident involving drink or drugs are often devastating, and sadly fatal.

The BBC  have reported of the story of a teenager left paralysed after a crash that killed three other teenagers due to the driver being under the influence of alcohol (source).
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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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So you’re thinking that is possibly one of the most random questions you have ever been asked – “Really” how dangerous can cutting the lawn be unless of course its at the control of the crazy Lawnmower man from that Pierce Brosnan movie of the same name?

Well, Lawnmower accidents, are more common and more serious than you might first think.

We all do it, every year the minute the weather turns nice we’re straight out there cutting the grass back and keeping it neat.

It is usually a job taken up by our other half’s admittedly (i.e. men) but should we all be aware of the risks?
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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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