jan can on saturday

New guidance on IVF defects risk

The HFEA says the majority of babies born by IVF are healthy

Couples seeking IVF are to be warned children born as a result of the fertility treatment may face a higher risk of birth defects.

Guidance from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is to be updated in the light of US research.

Scientists in Atlanta found IVF babies could be up to 30% more likely to suffer from certain health problems and genetic flaws.

More than 12,000 babies were born in the UK in 2006 as a result of IVF.

Patients will be able to access the HFEA's advice on potential risks on its website from next month.

The government's fertility watchdog will also make clear the majority of babies born by IVF are healthy and that more research is needed on the birth defect issues.

The study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found IVF babies suffered from higher rates of conditions such as heart valve defects, cleft lip and palate, and digestive system abnormalities.

An HFEA spokesman said it routinely reviewed its guidance.

"Following the publication of a US study into birth defects, HFEA's scientific and clinical advances committee reviewed our guidance and advice about the risks of treatment," he said.

"As with any medical procedure, it is important that patients understand what the treatment involves and what the risks may be.

"Our code of practice says clinicians must tell patients about the possible side effects and risks of treatment, including any risks for the child."

diabetes where ?

Virus 'triggers child diabetes'
By Emma Wilkinson BBC News health reporter
Dr Alan Foulis speaks about the research
A common virus may be the trigger for the development of many cases of diabetes, particularly in children, UK researchers have reported.
Signs of enteroviruses were found in pancreatic tissue from 60% of children with type 1 diabetes, but in hardly any children without the disease.
They also found that 40% of adults with type 2 diabetes had signs of the infection in insulin-producing cells.
The study published in Diabetologia raises the possibility of a vaccine.
Although genetics is known to play a fairly substantial role in a person's risk of developing diabetes, environmental factors must also be involved and the idea of a viral cause of diabetes has been considered for decades.
Type 1 diabetes is a life- threatening condition that requires a life-time of painful finger prick blood testing and insulin injections
Karen Addington, JDRF
The latest study was made possible by a pathologist in Glasgow who for 25 years collected tissue samples from children across the UK who had died less than 12 months after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
Dr Alan Foulis believed that enteroviruses - a common family of viruses which cause symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhoea - would be present but until recently the technology was not sensitive enough to detect them.
Along with colleagues from the south west-based Peninsula Medical School and the University of Brighton, he has now been able to look for evidence of the enteroviruses in tissue samples routinely taken during autopsy in 72 children and compare that with samples from 50 children without the condition.
In those with diabetes who had signs of the virus, it was specifically found in the insulin-producing beta cells.
Immune trigger
The researchers suggest that, in children with a genetic predisposition to type 1 diabetes - an autoimmune disease in which beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed - enterovirus infection can trigger the immune reaction that kicks off the disease process.
With type 2 diabetes - the type often linked to obesity in adults - the researchers speculate that the infection affects the ability of the cells to make insulin, which in combination with the greater demand for insulin in obese people, is enough to set off the disease.
The next steps to identify the viruses and find out what they are doing to the infected beta cells will be hugely exciting and will take us a step closer to preventing type 1 diabetes
Dr Iain Frame, Diabetes UK
At the same time, a separate study, published in Science, by researchers at Cambridge University, found four rare mutations in a gene which reduce the risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
It also backs the viral theory because the gene in question is involved in the immune response to infection with enteroviruses.
There are 100 different strains of enterovirus, so although the results open the way for the development of a vaccine, researchers still have to pin down which types are involved.
The study's author, Professor Noel Morgan from the Peninsula Medical School, said the results showed the underlying infection with enteroviruses was not a "rare event".
"The next stages of research - to identify which enteroviruses are involved, how the beta-cells are changed by infection and the ultimate goal to develop an effective vaccine - will lead to findings which we hope will drastically reduce the number of people around the world who develop type 1 diabetes, and potentially type 2 diabetes as well," he added.
Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, said the study was "a big step forward" in understanding the potential triggers for the disease.
"We've known for some time that type 1 diabetes cannot be explained by genetics alone and that other, environmental triggers may also play a part.
"The next steps to identify the viruses and find out what they are doing to the infected beta cells will be hugely exciting and will take us a step closer to preventing Type 1 diabetes."
Karen Addington, chief executive of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, who funded the research, said the findings were important as the incidence of type 1 diabetes is increasing every year and there is currently no way to prevent it.
"Type 1 diabetes is a life- threatening condition that requires a life-time of painful finger prick blood testing and insulin injections," she pointed out.

nigerian culture

UK arrest in Nigerian bribe case

The alleged bribes were said to run into tens of millions of dollars

UK police have arrested a London lawyer accused of moving millions of dollars in bribes to Nigerian officials to win contracts for a US construction firm.

A federal grand jury in Texas charged Jeffrey Tesler, 60, with helping channel money from Kellogg, Brown and Root, a former Halliburton subsidiary.

He was arrested after an extradition request from the US authorities.

It is alleged he channelled money to Nigerian officials, to obtain contracts valued at more than $6bn (£4bn).

Phytophthora ramorum and Phytophthora kernoviae

The cost of fungus

Whitehall belts may be tightening, but the government has found millions to fight killer fungus. Regular readers may recall I charted the spread of the misnamed "sudden oak death" disease at the end of last year.
Phytophthora ramorum and Phytophthora kernoviae are strains of a deadly plant disease plaguing historic gardens, woodland and heathlands across England, Wales and parts of Scotland.
According to environment minister Jane Kennedy, who today announced £25m for a five-year eradication programme in England and Wales, "if this disease spreads, it could mean parts of the countryside being cordoned off, and more limited public access - in addition to further loss of our precious woodland".

But eradication comes at a price, too. The main source of the disease is the Rhododendron ponticum which has invaded many large public gardens and historic estates. A cost-benefit analysis for the government last year [185k PDF]

celebrity ways

The Material Girl Is Named 'Worst-Dressed' Celebrity of 2009

When you see Madonna wearing fur, you realize why nobody has copied her style since 1984. Read more about Madonna's latest fashion faux pas and find out who else has been named the "Worst-Dressed" of 2009. Read More

• Sign the Pledge to Be Fur-Free
• Donna Karan Dumps Fur
• Watch: 'Whose Skin Are You In?'

richimag

This has been a difficult couple of weeks, 
I had to go to hospital

extinction again

"We are fortunate, like a bird who has wings. We can fly to anywhere we please. If the place where we have built our houses becomes dirty, or muddy, or slippery, and not good anymore, we just move away. If we want to go far away, we move to a place that is far; if we want to live nearby, we move to a place nearby. This is the way it has always been. When we are walking, and we feel like stopping, we might stay in one place for just one or two days, or three days. And if we want to move, we just move, we move to any place that we choose. Thus it has been since our origins, for us Penan who live in the forest. We always move, and always look for a place that we like, a place where we can be happy. And we look for an area where there are many animals, where the sago is plentiful. And we look for a place where the river is near, and where the water is good, where it is easy to make good sago. That is where we stay. That is why we are always moving.

though shall not judge

'Spiritual' assessment condemned

An audit showed nurses were in favour of more "spiritual" training

A scheme in which new hospital patients have their "religious and spiritual care needs" assessed has been condemned by the National Secular Society.

Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust said people would be asked whether they had "any faith needs that can be supported during their stay".

But the National Secular Society, which defends the rights of non-believers, said the move "misused NHS resources".

It said it sound as though hospital chaplains "were touting for business".

extinction

The nomadic hunter-gatherer Penan are one of the last such groups in South East Asia. Out of the 10,000 Penan living in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, Borneo, only 200 nomadic people are left.

nhs again

Fatal morphine family win damages

Mrs Rodger died after taking morphine which was 10 times her usual dose
The family of a woman who died after being prescribed morphine 10 times stronger than her usual dose has won undisclosed damages.
Catherine Rodger, 74, from Dundee, died of a heart attack in 2005 within hours of taking her first pill.
Dr Salahuddin Malik of the city's Downfield Surgery had prescribed 100mg of morphine sulphate rather than the 10mg she usually took for back pain.
BBC NEWS Scotland Tayside and Central Fatal morphine family win damages Fatal morphine family win damages

Mrs Rodger died after taking morphine which was 10 times her usual dose
The family of a woman who died after being prescribed morphine 10 times stronger than her usual dose has won undisclosed damages.
Catherine Rodger, 74, from Dundee, died of a heart attack in 2005 within hours of taking her first pill.
Dr Salahuddin Malik of the city's Downfield Surgery had prescribed 100mg of morphine sulphate rather than the 10mg she usually took for back pain.

tom thurgood

Veterans at 'higher suicide risk'

Young ex-servicemen are three times more likely to kill themselves than their civilian counterparts, a study has suggested.

Veterans aged under 24 are at greatest risk, with those in lower ranks and with shorter careers most vulnerable.

The Centre for Suicide Prevention linked military discharge data between 1996 and 2005 with details of suicides.

The MoD said veterans were entitled to mental health assessments and schemes had been introduced to improve access.

Of the 233,803 individuals who left the armed forces during the study period, 224 took their own lives, the report found.

The suicide risk was highest among young men leaving the armed forces within the first two years of discharge, it said.

'Already vulnerable'

The MoD-funded study found veterans had a low rate of contact with mental health professionals in the year before death, 14% for those aged under 20 and 20% for those under 24 years.

But the overall suicide risk was no greater for ex-military personnel than for civilians when all age groups were considered, from 16 to 49 years. Men aged 30-49 years had a lower rate of suicide than the general population.

The report's lead author, Professor Nav Kapur, said they could not prove why the increased rate occurred, but said there were three possible reasons.

One could be those joining the military at a young age were already vulnerable to suicide.

Whatever the explanation for our findings, these individuals may benefit from some form of intervention Prof Nav Kapur

"This would explain why those serving for a relatively short period of time before being discharged were most likely to take their own lives," Prof Kapur said.

A second explanation was the difficulty a minority of individuals experience making the transition to civilian life, he said.

The effect of exposure to adverse experiences during military service or active deployment was a third possibility.

Yet many of those most at risk had not completed basic training and had not deployed overseas, he said.

The risk of suicide was also higher in young women aged under 20 years compared with the general population, but the overall numbers were small.

Prof Kapur, professor of psychiatry and population health at Manchester University, said: "Whatever the explanation for our findings, these individuals may benefit from some form of intervention.

"Initial pre-recruitment interview, medical examination and training are important in ensuring military health but it should be recognised that those discharged at any of these stages may be at higher risk of suicide."

Support

The study compared the military discharge data with details of suicides collected by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicides and Homicides.

It used mathematical models to compare the figures to the general population.

A spokesman for the MoD said all service-leavers were entitled to a package to help them re-settle.

Extra help was given to those assessed as vulnerable to help them find accommodation, employment and welfare assistance.

Six community mental health centres have been set up to make it easier for veterans to seek help, he said.

"All veterans are also entitled to a free assessment of their mental health at the Medical Assessment Programme at St Thomas' Hospital in London, he added.

"We are also trialling a mentoring scheme to provide individual support to leavers as they re-adjust to civilian life."

The report comes days after Britain's highest-decorated serving soldier criticised the government for failing to help ex-servicemen and women suffering mental health problems.

Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry called on the government to give more help to his comrades suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, depression and mental breakdowns.

herpes

Grieving mother's herpes warning

Baby Jennifer died after contracting the Herpes virus from her mother Ruth The mother of a baby who died after contracting herpes from her cold sores is campaigning for more awareness of how dangerous it can be to newborns. Jennifer Schofield was 11 days old when her organs failed after contracting the Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), through either kisses or breastfeeding. Ruth Schofield, 35, of Lancaster, wants to warn mothers about the disease, which kills about six babies a year. A coroner recorded a narrative verdict into her death on Thursday. The inquest in Lancaster heard that Jennifer died in November 2006 from the type of HSV usually passed on through a cold sore. Miss Schofield probably caught HSV in the late stages of her pregnancy after she developed flu-like symptoms days before giving birth, the inquest heard. FROM BBC RADIO 5 LIVE More from BBC Radio 5 live She developed mouth ulcers after Jennifer was born and was given a mouthwash by her GP, but HSV was not diagnosed. It was then that Jennifer also became unwell and was admitted to hospital with a temperature, Miss Schofield said in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live. "She was continually sleeping and was terribly lethargic," she said. But 11 days after Jennifer's birth Miss Schofield was told her baby was going to die. "The doctors sat me down and they said, 'I'm really sorry but she can't fight anymore. Do you want to hold her and watch her die?' It broke my heart to know what she died of - how could this happen? Ruth Schofield "The hardest thing any woman can do is watch her baby die." It was only at the post-mortem examination that doctors discovered the baby had died of HSV. "She should be here today. It's such a treatable disease. I didn't know what I had," Miss Schofield said. "It broke my heart to know what she died of - how could this happen? "For the grieving process it was very hard to accept... It took me a very long time to accept I wasn't to blame." Miss Schofield has written to the prime minister asking for more literature to be put in clinics about the illness

generations of Drakes at Buckland Abbey.

I was first taken to visit Dartmoor by a very nice friend and his dog Sheena,It was early spring, not many people about that time of year, I was not very impressed at firstI felt sorry for the horses and ponies, they looked so lonely and cold although I supposethey are used to it.I went again in the summer, it was lovely! I wanted to go every week ,it was lovely and Iwent every week after that, lots of people,ice cream vans, coffee shops, I really loved it,Ihope Ican go again one day if I am lucky. Janet Khan.

Elephants last performed 10 years ago in a UK circus

Elephants last performed 10 years ago in a UK circus
A circus is being criticised by the RSPCA for using elephants in its show.
The animal charity said the debut of three elephants at a circus in Nottinghamshire on Friday was a "body blow for animal welfare".
It has called on the government to ban wild animals from circuses and urged people to consider the "ethical issues involved" before visiting the show.
The "European elephant act" at the Great British Circus in Newark will be the first in the UK for over 10 years.
Circuses had stopped using elephants after pressure from animal rights campaigners.

Asking these majestic animals to behave in unnatural ways in the name of entertainment is a disgrace
Dr Rob Atkinson, RSPCA
The RSPCA's wildlife department head Dr Rob Atkinson said: "This is a body blow for animal welfare in this country.
"I am sure this news will shock and sadden the public which has consistently shown its opposition to the use of wild animals in circuses."
He said the RSPCA did not believe wild animals' needs could ever be met in circuses adding that confinement, constant transportation, abnormal social groups and inadequate winter quarters all caused suffering.
'Care and attention'
"Asking these majestic animals to behave in unnatural ways in the name of entertainment is a disgrace - a disgrace which is already banned in several other European countries", Dr Atkinson added.
"There is absolutely no similarity between the lives of wild elephants and those of these circus captives," he said.
An African and two Asian elephants are due to perform at the show.
According to the Great British Circus website, director Martin Lacey "always insists his animals receive the best possible care and attention".
On the website, Mr Lacey said: "Our African elephant is called Sonja and her mother was shot in an elephant cull.
"Together with the two Asian elephants, Delhi and Vana Mana, they are great ambassadors for the species, entertaining and educating the public within the care and security of the circus to protect them."

skin deep

Description
A mink coat of classic elegance that will always be in style! This lovely coat has the sophisticated, clean lined look of rich, ranch mink with a collar that can be worn open or standing up in a mandarin collar. The mink around the collar and front is distinctively crafted to create an even darker ranch mink trim adding a quiet but uniquely lovely accent

no fur coats allowed

no fur coats gallery click this

February 19

richimag

 

Banksy is a well-known graffiti artist from Bristol.
Banksy’s stencilled works on the streets of Bristol, London and New York have attracted equal acclaim and condemnation, but the man himself is shrouded in secrecy.
Banksy’s real name is rumoured to be Robert Banks, Robin Gunningham or even Robin Banks, depending on who you believe.
It is not even certain which part of Bristol he is from. Some say Banksy is from the Easton area, others say Yate.

http://content.thisis.co.uk/bristol07/banksy/banksypage.html

Shingles 'risk' of arthritis drug

Shingles may be triggered when the immune system is weakened

Some popular treatments for rheumatoid arthritis could increase the risk of the painful condition shingles, a German study suggests.

Anti-TNF (anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha) therapy drugs can slow the progress of disease and help to reduce some of the worst symptoms.
But some of them may make patients more vulnerable to shingles, a skin disease which produces sore, itchy blisters.
Writing in JAMA, the authors advised patients on such drugs be monitored.
The team at the Rheumatism Research Centre in Berlin analysed data from more than 5,000 patients on different forms of treatment.
There were 86 outbreaks of shingles - triggered by the virus Herpes zoster - among 82 patients. Thirty-nine of these coincided with treatment with the anti-TNF drugs adalimumab and infliximab.
Etanercept, a protein therapy, and conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs were associated with 23 and 24 cases respectively.
Watchful eye
After adjusting for the age of the patient, the severity of their illness and their use of steroid hormone therapies, researchers found that the risk for patients on the anti-TNF programme almost doubled.

All drugs which damp down the immune response run the risk of increased risk of infection Professor Alan Silman Arthritis Research Campaign

Although this was beneath the threshold of clinical significance, which would be an increase of more than double, the researchers, led by Dr Anja Strangfeld, said their findings suggested doctors should be on the look out for shingles in the patients they treat with these drugs.
"Based on our data, we recommend careful monitoring of patients treated with monoclonal anti-TNF-alpha antibodies for early signs and symptoms of Herpes zoster," they wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Shingles is the reactivation of the virus infection that causes chickenpox. After a person has had the infection, usually as a child, the virus remains in their body and can return, usually after the age of 50.
It often first manifests as pain, itching or tingling in an area of skin on one side of the body or face before developing into a rash. Many continue to suffer chronic nerve pain once the rash has subsided.
A weakened immune system is thought to be one of the triggers, and it is suggested that this may be why anti-TNF drugs could have this effect.
"All drugs which damp down the immune response run the risk of increased risk of infection; steroids being a well known example," said Professor Alan Silman, medical director of the Arthritis Research Campaign.
"Shingles is also a rare but well recognised complication of immune drugs used to treat both autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis as well as cancers. This distressing but fortunately treatable infection is likely to be increased in incidence in anti-TNF treated patients."

to brighten up my day

Bored and Lonely

Should I take a lover,should I have a fling,

should I get a toy boy, and all that this will bring.

I do need some excitement to brighten up my day

someone who will love me the good old-fashioned way,

someone I can lean on in times of stress

who will be complimentary when I get undressed

who'll tell me I'm a woman and handle me with care

buy me gifts and flowers and when I need him he'll be there.

I don't think I will bother

I think it's been too long

I think I've lost the art of love,I might do something wrong,

I couldn't face the embarasment of knowing where to look, so when I go to bed tonight

I think I'll take a book.

Janet Khan 2003

distant stars in distant Galaxies

Some enlightened brains would like to include primates like the Gorilla in the social
care we are trying to establish . Basic rights to protect them from anialation and
disappearance .
Surely this is natural selection finished , the endless unknown is over , on this planet at the
moments past present and future , one species has reached the point which could have been
reached long previous in other places , distant stars in distant Galaxies should be farther ahead.Species is a very misleading term

Following traditional Darwinism

ufo ff

UFO over Plymouth

UFO over Plymouth, February 2009

Dartmoor Zoo

This article by Benjamin Mee, one of the Directors at Dartmoor Zoo, written for the Guardian describes what he went through to preserve the Zoo. Benjamin Mee, unaware of the grim living conditions, creditors and escaped big cat that lay in wait ...

vegan

I know the isolation my diet has shown me, the mental anguish of trying to present as vegan ,my internal fears,I took tablets and antibiotics in liquid form, the drugs fixed the huge infection I had

Scientists studying the DNA of Neanderthals

Neanderthals 'distinct from us'

The DNA will tease out the differences between Neanderthals (l) and us (r)

Scientists studying the DNA of Neanderthals say they can find no evidence that this ancient species ever interbred with modern humansBut our evolutionary cousins may well have been able to speak as well as us, said Prof Svante Paabo from Germany's Max Planck Institute.

He was speaking in Chicago, US, where he announced the "first draft" of a complete Neanderthal genome.
The genetics information has been gleaned from fossils found in Croatia.
Prof Svante Paabo confirmed that Neanderthals shared the FOXP2 gene associated with speech and language in modern humans.
A total of three billion "letters", covering 60% of the Neanderthal genome, have been sequenced by scientists from Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and 454 Life Sciences Corporation, in Branford, Connecticut.
The majority of the sequence comes from bones from Vindija Cave in Croatia.
The draft genome can give us clues to the genetic regions which make us "uniquely human", Prof Paabo told BBC News.
"It was always a dream to look at the DNA of our closest evolutionary relatives.
"Now that we have the Neanderthal genome, we can look for areas in the human genome where a change seems to have swept rapidly through us since we separated from Neanderthals.
"There, something special may have happened in us. The cool thing is, now that we have the whole genome, we can look for these changes without bias."
Prof Paabo released details about the latest stage of his research at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Tongue twister
Neanderthals lived in Europe and parts of Asia until they became extinct about 30,000 years ago.

THE DNA MOLECULE The double-stranded DNA molecule is held together by four chemical components called bases Adenine (A) bonds with thymine (T); cytosine(C) bonds with guanine (G) Groupings of these "letters" form the "code of life"; there are 3.2 billion base-pairs in the Neanderthal genome Written in the DNA are genes, which cells use as starting templates to make proteins; these sophisticated molecules build and maintain the body

They were the closest relatives of currently living humans, sharing between 99.5% to 99.9% of our DNA sequence.
Pinpointing the differences may reveal the crucial evolutionary changes that enabled modern humans to leave Africa and rapidly spread around the world, starting around 100,000 years ago.
Accordingly, Prof Paabo and his team have focused on genes of special interest in recent human evolution, such as FOXP2, which is involved in speech and language.
Humans differ from chimpanzees at two key points in the FOXP2 gene.
But the preliminary results suggest that Neanderthals shared these same variations.
"There is no reason to believe they couldn't speak like us," said Prof Paabo.
"But of course there are many other genes involved in speech and language, so there are many more studies to be done."
Breeds apart
Since Neanderthals lived side by side with modern humans in Europe for many thousands of years, it has been speculated that we may have inherited some Neanderthal DNA in our genome today, thanks to interbreeding.
But Professor Paabo's team have found no evidence for this.
They focused on a gene implicated in brain development - microcephalin-1 - which shows significant variation among present day humans.
It has been suggested that a particular variant of the gene, found commonly in Europeans, was contributed by Neanderthals.
But the Croatian Neanderthal fossils harboured an ancestral form of the microcephalin-1 gene, which today is also found among Africans.
Overall, it seems that Neanderthals have contributed, at most, a "very limited" fraction of the variation found in contemporary human populations, said Prof Paabo.
"What is exciting now, is that we are beginning to look the other way - from early modern humans into Neanderthals."
Professor Chris Stringer, from the Natural History Museum, London, UK, commented: "If the the Neanderthal genome data show little evidence of potential hybridisation, that would fit with my view from the fossil evidence that, while interbreeding was probably possible, it may have occurred only rarely, with trivial impact on modern humans.
"The populations had been separate for hundreds of thousands of years and I think there would have been significant physical and behavioural differences between them. However, larger samples would be desirable to get a more complete picture, and hopefully those will follow soon."
Dead end
Prof Paabo said the team did not expect to find any clues which might help solve the riddle of the Neanderthals' demise.
"I don't think they became extinct due to something in their genome," he said.
"It was clearly something in their interaction with the environment or with modern humans that caused them to be extinct.
"That will not be something you can see from their DNA sequence."
And Prof Paabo was quick to pour cold water on any suggestion that the genome sequence would facilitate the cloning of a Neanderthal.
"We are talking about a very complex mammal," said the 53-year-old.
"I don't think that technology will improve fast enough to make this possible in my lifetime.
"It is more in the realm of science fiction than science."

Care home boss accused of murders 

The couple were first arrested on New Year's Day 2007 

The co-manager of a Somerset care home has been charged with murdering three elderly residents.

"horrified" NHS "009

Doctor guilty of fatal injection

Dr Priya Ramnath had denied manslaughter by gross negligence

A doctor has been found guilty of killing a patient by giving her a fatal injection of adrenaline against the advice of three colleagues.

Patricia Leighton, 51, had been taken into Staffordshire District General Hospital suffering from septic shock. She died there in July 1998.

Dr Priya Ramnath, 40, had denied manslaughter by gross negligence.

She was given a suspended six-month jail sentence after being convicted at Birmingham Crown Court.

Staffordshire Police revealed after the case that Ramnath, who was due to take annual leave, resigned from her post at the hospital on 28 July - six days after Mrs Leighton's death.

She arrived in Orlando, Florida, a day later.

They have faced agonising times to see justice brought and we hope that they can now find some form of closure Det Ch Insp Phil Bladen

An inquest in August 2004 recorded a verdict of unlawful killing on Mrs Leighton and police then took steps to extradite Ramnath.

The four-week hearing was previously told by Ramnath's colleague, Dr Doris Ng, that she was "horrified" the injection had been given.

Mrs Leighton, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, was admitted to hospital in Cannock on 20 July 1998 for treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and an infected bunion.

She suffered side-effects to antibiotics and was transferred to the intensive care unit in Stafford with septic shock.

It was there that Ramnath gave her adrenaline, she said, in an effort to raise Mrs Leighton's blood pressure.

Patricia Leighton died at the hospital in July 1998

Michael Burrows, prosecuting, had told the court that within moments of receiving the jab, Mrs Leighton had "jerked forward and sat bolt upright in her bed".

He said she had shouted out: "What's happening to me? I am going to die."

Shortly afterwards, Mrs Leighton lost consciousness and her heart stopped.

Ramnath and other colleagues tried to resuscitate Mrs Leighton but failed.

Mother-of-two Ramnath declined to give evidence during her trial.

However, Dr John Coakley, an expert in intensive care medicine who works at London's Homerton Hospital, told the trial Mrs Leighton probably died of septic shock - not the injection.

He said he "did not envy" any of the doctors who dealt with her as he said her condition had been critical when she was admitted to hospital.

It doesn't matter how long ago a crime happened, you just can't let it go, you have to fight for justice Leighton family statement

Dr Coakley said Mrs Leighton had only been given about a 50% chance of survival at that time.

Mrs Justice Rafferty said the doctor had panicked in the "pressure cooker" of the intensive care unit.

The judge told Ramnath: "The jury has found that Mrs Leighton would have lived longer, perhaps days, but for your gross negligence."

Mrs Justice Rafferty added that Ramnath's biggest mistake was refusing to listen to her colleagues.

The jury convicted her with a 10-to-two verdict after three days of deliberations.

A statement from Mrs Leighton's family after the case described her as a "very loyal and family-orientated person with a lovely, gentle nature".

'Overcome hurdles'

The statement said: "A lot of lives got wrecked the day she was taken from us."

It continued: "We have overcome many hurdles to get this case to trial.

"It doesn't matter how long ago a crime happened, you just can't let it go, you have to fight for justice.

"We are happy that the jury have returned a guilty verdict and that justice has at last been served, and hope that she will never be able to wreck another family's life."

Det Ch Insp Phil Bladen said it had been a "complicated and highly unusual" case.

He added: "Our thoughts have been very much with Mrs Leighton's family, who have waited more than 10 years to see someone made culpable.

"They have faced agonising times to see justice brought and we hope that they can now find some form of closure."

what is going wrong in the nhs

NHS facing £700m negligence bill

By Adam Brimelow BBC News health correspondent

The negligence bill is set to increase

Clinical negligence payouts by the NHS in England are expected to rise by 80% next year.

Trusts have set aside £713m to cover costs, up from about £400m this year, figures obtained by the Tories show.

stone cold

I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps,

doctors arrogance

Gene fault 'ups antibiotic risk'

Antibiotics are used to target serious infections

in 500 children is carrying a gene variation which means they are more likely to be damaged by a commonly used hospital antibiotic, a study suggests.