Surgical Instruments May Not be Fair Trade
The NHS may be buying medical equipment unethically and exploiting developing countries, it has been claimed in an article published on bmj.com today.
Unlike the campaigns for fair trade of goods like bananas and coffee, there have been no such campaigns for medical commodities, says Dr Mahmood Bhutta, a specialist registrar in otolaryngology (head and neck surgery) at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
Dr Bhutta says that while NHS suppliers are encouraged to act in an ethical business manner, they do not and there are currently no checks or assessments made into the origins of surgical instruments used by the NHS.
“Domino” Transplant Program Makes Best Use of Altruistic Donated Kidneys
A team of Johns Hopkins researchers reporting their early experiences with “domino” kidney donation suggest that wider use of this strategy could effectively double the benefit of the organs from these non-directed, altruistic living donors.
In a paper published in the August issue of the British journal Lancet, the team, led by Robert A. Montgomery, M.D., chief of transplantation at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, show that by serving the needs of multiple recipients, such domino transplants can maximize the benefits of these donors’ altruistic acts.
Under the terms of the domino-paired donation program, a kidney transplant patient who has a willing but incompatible living organ donor is matched with an altruistic, compatible donor. The incompatible kidney from the recipient’s intended donor is then domino-matched with the next compatible patient on the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) waiting list. This strategy can be further used to enable a triple transplant by simply adding an additional incompatible donor-recipient pair to the chain.
Malaysia’s religious scholars ban Botox treatments
Malaysia’s religious scholars have ordered devout Muslims not to use Botox injections to smooth away wrinkles because they contain prohibited substances, such as those from pigs, a newspaper said on Friday.
But the injections will be allowed to help alleviate medical conditions such as cerebral palsy, the New Straits Times said, adding that while the fatwa did not have the force of law, those who ignored it were committing a sin.
Even in medical treatment, the injections must only be provided by a specialist in dire cases, said Shukor Husin, chairman of the National Fatwa Council.
Skin discoloration common with arthritis drug
Skin discoloration appears to be a common side effect of an antibiotic given to some people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a small study shows.
The drug, called minocycline, is more commonly used to treat acne and certain other skin conditions. But some people with RA take minocycline to help control inflammation in their joints; those with a history of the blood infection sepsis are particularly likely to receive minocycline because some other RA drugs can be dangerous for them.
Clinical trials indicate that minocycline carries fewer side effects than other drugs used to treat RA, the authors of the new study report in The Journal of Rheumatology. However, they add, the rates of side effects in the real world have been less clear.
