The National Secular Society said

Pope criticised for attack on UK Equality Bill

The Pope has confirmed he will visit the UK later this year

The Pope has faced a backlash after urging Catholic bishops in England and Wales to fight the UK's Equality Bill with "missionary zeal".

Pope Benedict XVI said the bill - which could end the right of the Church to ban gay people from senior positions - "violates natural law".

But gay and human rights campaigners condemned his comments, and Labour MEP Stephen Hughes said he was "appalled".

Gordon Brown said he respected the Pope but commenting would be inappropriate.

The prime minister's official spokesman said Mr Brown had "enormous admiration and respect" for the pontiff, who will this year make the first papal visit to the UK since 1982.

'Sweeping exemptions'

The Pope told the Catholic bishops of England and Wales gathered in Rome: "Your country is well-known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society.

"Yet, as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.

Religious leaders should be trying to eradicate inequality, not perpetuate it Stephen Hughes Labour MEP

"In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed."

Jonathan Finney, from gay rights group Stonewall, told BBC Radio 5 live: "People should not be denied access to services and employment purely because they are gay.

"We've got to guard against sweeping exemptions seeming to protect one person's freedom, which actually really impact on other people's."

He added: "What you can't start doing is saying that religious people have hard-won freedoms, we'll now restrict those, we won't give them to gay people, we won't give them to women."

'Unjust limitations'

Mr Hughes, speaking in Rome, said: "As a Catholic, I am appalled by the attitude of the Pope. Religious leaders should be trying to eradicate inequality, not perpetuate it."

He said the pontiff should ensure existing EU legislation was applied in the Vatican, rather than attacking equality in the UK.

The British Humanist Association said his "uninformed" and "homophobic" remarks came as no surprise and it would oppose his visit later in the year.

Head of public affairs, Naomi Phillips, said the Pope was seeking to discriminate against others in employment, services and education "unfettered by the laws that everyone else in society must abide by and respect".

FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme

But the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, said the Pope's words would resonate with many people who felt "uneasy" about the consequences of recent legislation.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme religious belief and practice had been driven into "the sphere of the private only", and the Pope wanted to express the "unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities".

The Archbishop said: "He's [the Pope] not getting engaged in party politics... but he wants his reasoned voice - formed by the treasures of the Christian heritage which is deeply embedded in our culture - to be heard."

Religious leaders have voiced concern that the Equality Bill could force churches to employ sexually active gay people and transsexuals when hiring staff other than priests or ministers.

The National Secular Society said it would mount a protest campaign made up of gay groups, victims of clerical abuse, feminists, family planning organisations and groups supporting abortion choice, among others.

What the Pope is doing is trying to encourage the bishops to keep their resolve in very fluctuating morals in cultures and societies today Robert Mickens Rome correspondent, The Tablet

President Terry Sanderson said: "The taxpayer in this country is going to be faced with a bill of some £20m for the visit of the Pope - a visit in which he has already indicated he will attack equal rights and promote discrimination."

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the Pope's comments were a "coded attack on the legal rights granted to women and gay people".

"His ill-informed claim that our equality laws undermine religious freedom suggests that he supports the right of churches to discriminate in accordance with their religious ethos," he said.

"He seems to be defending discrimination by religious institutions and demanding that they should be above the law."

'Prejudiced employers'

But Catholic MP Ann Widdecombe said: "This isn't a debate about homosexuality, this is a debate about religious freedom."

She told BBC Radio 5 live: "If a faith teaches, as major faiths do, that something is wrong, then quite clearly you cannot have somebody who believes that it's right actually occupying a very senior position.

"That we have accepted as natural justice for a very long time."

HAVE YOUR SAY

The Catholic Church has no place in making legislation, and nor does any other self-appointed religious body

Ian, London

Send us your comments

Robert Mickens, Rome correspondent at the Catholic newspaper The Tablet, said the Pope's position was "nothing really new - this is part of the classic Catholic teaching on human sexuality".

"What the Pope is doing is trying to encourage the bishops to keep their resolve in very fluctuating morals in cultures and societies today."

Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris, who sits on the Joint Committee on Human Rights, said all Britons - including Catholics and gay people - were protected by UK equality laws.

"Religious people can be reassured that there is nothing in the Equality Bill which imposes gay priests on religions, but it does protect the general workforce from prejudiced employers," he said.

A spokesman for the Government Equalities Office said: "The Pope acknowledges our country's firm commitment to equality for all members of society.

"We believe everyone should have a fair chance in life and not be discriminated against. The Equality Bill will make Britain a fairer and more equal place."

David Cameron to discuss opening a public inquiry.

Stafford Hospital public inquiry discussed

The hospital was criticised by the Healthcare Commission last March

Relatives angered by failings in care at a hospital are meeting David Cameron to discuss opening a public inquiry.

A damning Healthcare Commission report last year said about 400 more people died at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2008 than would be expected.

The Conservatives and Lib Dems have promised to hold an inquiry if they win the general election. Labour said it would do more harm than good.

An independent inquiry is currently being held in private.

Campaigners from Cure the NHS are at Westminster on Tuesday.

If we do form a government, we have made a commitment to (campaigner) Julie Bailey and Cure the NHS campaign Shadow health minister Stephen O'Brien

The group - made up of relatives who died at the hospital and those who feel they were victims of poor care there - want to know how the hospital was allowed to gain Foundation status when the death rates were so high.

The campaigners have been calling for a public inquiry for some time following the publication of the Healthcare Commissions' report last March.

The hospital was criticised for its "appalling" emergency care during 2005 and 2008 that led to patients "dying needlessly".

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was given a "weak" rating last October by new regulator Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The trust apologised to families on the first day of the current inquiry.

It is thought the findings are due to be released later this week.

Shadow health minister Stephen O'Brien, has told the BBC that the Conservatives would hold a statutory-based public inquiry "within weeks and months" of the election if the party forms a government.

The inquiry would mean witnesses would be compelled to give evidence.

'Hole in the head'

Mr O'Brien, MP for Eddisbury, said: "It's absolutely vital we learn all the lessons that must be learned from the appalling events that took place at Mid-Staffordshire Trust and Stafford Hospital.

"We have to see what happens after the general election.

"If we do form a government, we have made a commitment to (campaigner) Julie Bailey and Cure the NHS campaign.

"I put this to them when I met met them and I have confirmed that we would establish a full public inquiry as soon possible after we are elected."

But health minister, Mike O'Brien, said it would not help.

"I think the price of that would be to cause some problems for the hospital," he said.

He added that he thought the hospital needed an 18-month public inquiry "like a hole in the head".

Bodmin Gaol

HANNON says:

August 1, 2009 at 3:58 pm

Hi me and my mum,sister,stepdad went to the jail i was looking in james holderman i think that was his name the one who killed his wife with the iron i said when i was standing there “james your evil” and a mini sec later i herd a deep breth bt my face. and i have two other experiances happen in a girl named sara her jail cell i was feeling depresed when in there and i did what most haunted to when u wistle a tune and they should wistle back and em and my lil sis was in there the first time i did it and there was a fain copy of the wistle i did in the left hand side of the room so i told my mum to come in and before we went in there the second time she would not go in there, so swe went up to the man in fancy dress and my mum had siad to him ” you know that jail cell with the metal door on the second floor” the man smiled and replied yes she said i could not step into that room at all and he said that was a lady called sara that was her cell she is not trying to make u not want to go in there she wants u to go in there to help her she is afraid of men. anyways we where in the cell me my mum and my 6 yr old sister and i wistled for a second time and she relpied but not a short one like i did it sounded like a wimper wistle and i felt really upstet. and the last experance i had was when we was up in the 5th floor and i could hear people wistling again but i was not wistling so i listend carful and they were what sound like to me wistling jingle bells but we went to the man again and said y on the 5th floor can u hear people wistling when u where up on the 5th floor when what u can see is like rubble on the floor there was no roof or rooms and then when i walked down the sairs it followed you. and he smiled gain and said that is one of the spirits that i comunicate with there and he senses that you have a open mind or belive in ghosts and spirits so he is trying to talk with you. so if that helps any one who reads this and has experanced the same thing it is to prove u did hear it or feel it xxx KEEP BELIVING BECAUSE IF THEY SENSE U DONT BELIVE THEY WILL NOT PROVE TO U THEY R REAL SO BELIVE,BELIVE,BELIVE

A doctor who prescribed "potentially hazardous" levels of drugs to elderly patients

Misconduct doctor Jane Barton escapes being struck off

Dr Barton has been banned from giving diamorphine for three years

A doctor who prescribed "potentially hazardous" levels of drugs to elderly patients who later died has escaped being struck off.

Dr Jane Barton will be allowed to continue working under certain conditions despite being found guilty of serious professional misconduct.

She was accused of a series of failings in her care of 12 patients at Gosport War Memorial Hospital in the 1990s.

Relatives and the General Medical Council criticised the panel's ruling.

Family members of those who had died shouted at the fitness to practice panel when the decision was delivered in central London.

Iain Wilson, the son of Robert Wilson, one of the patients who died, shouted: "You should hang your head in shame."

GMC 'surprised'

The panel said Dr Barton was guilty of putting her patients at risk of premature death.

But it said it had taken into account her 10 years of safe practice as a GP in Gosport and 200 letters of support.

Dr Barton said she had to work under "unreasonable pressure" with an "excessive and increasing burden" in caring for patients.

Three patients were given painkillers inappropriate for their condition Fears of 'culture of euthanasia'

But in a statement after the hearing the GMC criticised the independent panel.

Niall Dickson, GMC chief executive, said: "We are surprised by the decision to apply conditions in this case.

"Our view was the doctor's name should have been erased from the medical register following the panel's finding of serious professional misconduct.

"We will be carefully reviewing the decision before deciding what further action, if any, may be necessary."

Eleven conditions have been placed upon Dr Barton, including a ban on injecting opiates for three years.

In a statement after the panel's ruling, Dr Barton said: "I am disappointed by the decision of the GMC panel.

Throughout my career I have tried to do my very best for all my patients and have had only their interests and wellbeing at heart Dr Jane Barton

"Anyone following this case carefully will know that I was faced with an excessive and increasing burden in trying to care for patients at the Gosport War Memorial Hospital.

"None of the nurses who gave evidence were critical of my care of the patients in this inquiry.

"The consultants who had overall responsibility for the patients never expressed concern about my treatment and working practices.

"Throughout my career I have tried to do my very best for all my patients and have had only their interests and wellbeing at heart."

The hearing follows an inquest into 10 patients' deaths which found drugs to be a factor in five cases.

Seven of the 10 patients whose inquests were held last year

In April last year, a jury inquest at Portsmouth Coroner's Court decided that in the cases of patients Robert Wilson, 74, Geoffrey Packman, 66, and Elsie Devine, 88, the use of painkillers had been inappropriate for their conditions.

Arthur Cunningham, 79, and Elsie Lavender, 83, were prescribed medication appropriate for their condition, but in doses which contributed to their deaths, jurors found.

Dr Barton left the Hampshire hospital in 2000 but still practises as a GP in Gosport.

But she has been under certain conditions since July 2008

Professor John Beddington told the BBC the fundamental science behind man-made global warming was "correct"

Climate change research sound, chief UK scientist says

Prof Beddington is calling for more openness

The UK government's chief scientist says his confidence in climate science remains unshaken despite allegations about the withholding of research data.

Professor John Beddington told the BBC the fundamental science behind man-made global warming was "correct".

He said he was concerned that the debate on climate change was becoming artificially polarised.

But he urged scientists to be more open about the uncertainty of predicting the rate of climate change.

He was speaking in the light of reports that the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit had refused to hand over data for public scrutiny.

The Information Commissioner's Office said messages obtained by hackers in November showed that requests by climate change sceptics under the Freedom of Information Act were "not dealt with as they should have been" under the law.

Glacier claims

Prof Beddington, chief scientific adviser to the government, said that even if there were more allegations of wrongdoing by climate scientists or mistakes, the basic science pointing to man-made global warming was very strong.

He told the BBC: "We know that the fundamental physics of the science of climate change is correct. Carbon dioxide, when it is in the atmosphere, increases global warning.

"We know we have increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the pre-industrial period by something of the order of 38%."

He said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had done an enormous job.

I don't think it's healthy to dismiss proper scepticism. Science grows and improves in the light of criticism Prof John Beddington

But he added that the organisation was at fault by picking up a false claim that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035.

He said it was wrong to attempt to predict something like that too precisely.

In an earlier interview with the Times, Prof Beddington said public confidence in climate science would be boosted by greater honesty about its uncertainties.

"I don't think it's healthy to dismiss proper scepticism.

"Science grows and improves in the light of criticism. There is a fundamental uncertainty about climate change prediction that can't be changed."

faddish beliefs."The New Economics Foundation (Nef)

Economic growth 'cannot continue'

The world is facing ecological bankruptcy, the report warns

Continuing global economic growth "is not possible" if nations are to tackle climate change, a report by an environmental think-tank has warned.

The New Economics Foundation (Nef) said "unprecedented and probably impossible" carbon reductions would be needed to hold temperature rises below 2C (3.6F).

Scientists say exceeding this limit could lead to dangerous global warming.

"We urgently need to change our economy to live within its environmental budget," said Nef's policy director.

Andrew Simms added: "There is no global, environmental central bank to bail us out if we become ecologically bankrupt."

None of the existing models or policies could "square the circle" of economic growth with climate safety, Nef added.

'No magic bullets'

In the report, Growth Isn't Possible, the authors looked at the main models for climate change and energy use in the global economy.

Magic bullets - such as carbon capture and storage, nuclear or even geo-engineering - are potentially dangerous distractions Dr Victoria Johnson, Report's co-author

They then considered whether economic growth could be maintained while "retaining a good likelihood" of limiting the global average temperature to within 2C of pre-industrial levels.

The report concluded that a growth rate of just 3%, the "carbon intensity" of the global economy would need to fall by 95% by 2050 from 2002 levels. This would require an average annual reduction of 6.5%.

However, the authors said that the world's carbon intensity had "flatlined" between 2000 and 2007.

"For each year the target was missed, the necessary improvements would grow higher still," they observed.

The findings also suggested that there was no proven technological advance that would allow "business as usual" to continue.

"Magic bullets - such as carbon capture and storage, nuclear or even geo-engineering - are potentially dangerous distractions from more human-scale solutions," said co-author Victoria Johnson, Nef's lead researcher for the climate change and energy programme.

She added that there was growing support for community-scale projects, such as decentralised energy systems, but support from governments was needed.

"At the moment, magic bullets... are getting much of the funding and political attention, but are missing the targets," Dr Johnson said.

"Our research shows that to prevent runaway climate change, this needs to change."

The report concluded that an economy that respected environmental thresholds, which include biodiversity and the finite availability of natural resources, would be better placed to deliver human well-being in the long run.

Tom Clougherty, executive director of the Adam Smith Institute, a free-market think-thank, said Nef's report exhibited "a complete lack of understanding of economics and, indeed, human development".

"It is precisely this economic growth which will lift the poor out of poverty and improve the environmental standards that really matter to people - like clean air and water - in the process, as it has done throughout human history," he told BBC News.

"There's only one good thing I can say for the Nef's report, and that's that it is honest. Its authors admit that they want us to be poorer and to lead more restricted lives for the sake of their faddish beliefs."

bankers and bosses dominated the agenda

Davos 2010: Bank reform plans to cause controversy

By Tim Weber Business editor, BBC News website, in Davos

Business and political leaders from all over the world are in Davos

Disputes over how best to reform the global financial system are set to dominate this year's World Economic Forum in Davos.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is likely to add to the pressure on banks in a keynote speech on Wednesday.

Numerous sessions on banking reform are expected to see clashes between bankers and regulators.

The forum, meanwhile, is publishing a report on how to redesign the "global financial architecture".

Regulators set Davos agenda

Until two years ago, bankers and bosses dominated the agenda for the 2,500 top business leaders and politicians meeting in the Swiss Alps.

Last year, after the crisis struck, there was no tussle for dominance. Everybody tried to understand what had happened and searched for ideas to recover from the crisis. And most bankers stayed away, firefighting the crisis at home.

This year the bankers are back, but the talk is of reform and restructuring, with politicians, regulators and central bankers setting the framework for discussions.

Some well-known economists appear ready to chip in. "There are few financial innovations that are not just designed to generate profits for banks," mutters one of them at the forum's welcome reception.

Delaying tactics

But listening to bankers here in Davos and elsewhere, it is obvious that they won't just roll over. They are admitting the need for reform, but warn of over-regulation that could undermine any economic recovery. Delaying tactics could be the bankers' best ploy.

A bumpy Davos awaits world leaders Q&A: World Economic Forum 2010 Ten things you didn't know about Davos Send us your comments

The forum's own proposal on financial reforms may be a case in point. The report's high-powered steering committee includes top bankers and investors from institutions like Allianz, Barclays Capital, Blackstone, Carlyle Group, JP Morgan Chase and KKR.

But the report's grand title - Restoring Trust and Rethinking Business Models Critical to Financial System Resilience - hides vague recommendations like the need to "address equity stakes separately from other types of crisis intervention", "restrict government influence on owned institutions to board-level issues", and a plea to be "realistic about securing and incentivizing the best available talent" (i.e. the need to pay bonuses).

"Everyone understands that appropriate changes are warranted, that excessive risk-taking should be discouraged and that regulatory reform is called for," Jacob Frenkel, the chairman of JP Morgan Chase International, tells me, but adds: "I do worry however that any reforms may give way to bad regulation rather than good regulation."

Recovery, what recovery?

The state of the global economy will be the background to the Davos discussions.

Already I've heard words like "slow recovery", "jobless recovery", "bumpy recovery" being bandied about.

The jobless will be asking: "Which recovery?"

Business leaders and politicians from Asia, meanwhile, will be asking: "Which recession?" Most economies in the region experienced slower growth rates at best and a brief downturn at worst.

The spirit of Davos

But beyond the disputes about regulation and macroeconomics, the much-vaunted Spirit of Davos is alive and well.

Already the networking and schmoozing has begun. For Jeffrey Hamilton, director of global public policy at pharmaceutical giant Merck, the week in Davos is the best opportunity to meet customers and health officials from around the world.

Business contacts are already being made

For Richard Reddy, it is a chance to spread the word about technology start-up BioFuelBox. The company develops a process to transform industrial waste grease into biodiesel. That sharply reduces landfill waste, he says, and returns seven times the energy that's put into the process.

Mr Reddy is a Davos first-timer, soaking up the atmosphere.

"I've signed up for many sessions that have nothing to do with our industry - just to get new ideas," he says.

And he just loves Davos: "Look, it's the first hour of the first event, and already it's overwhelming!"

Dr Joel Selanikio has a very straight-forward ambition for his Davos visit: "Fundraising."

The medical doctor is the founder of DataDyne, a company based in the US and Kenya that develops software for the health industry in developing countries.

His mobile phone software - written by engineers in Nairobi - could dramatically cut the cost of vaccination programmes, he says. It could also ensure that patients far away from medical supervision actually take their medication when they are supposed to.

But a couple of grants have run out and he is now drawing on his savings to nurture the company.

Listening in on our conversation is Jock Mendoza-Wilson, in charge of investor relations at Ukrainian steel and banking conglomerate System Capital Management.

"That's just the kind of software that our company's foundation needs to help TB patients in the Ukraine," says Mr Mendoza-Wilson.

Business cards are swapped, and Dr Selanikio may be be one step closer to building a successful company.

I will not go, says climate chief

Climate chief: 'I'm here to stay'

The chairman of the UN's climate science body said he would not resign in the wake of a row about a mistake on glaciers that appeared in a key report.

Rajendra Pachauri told BBC News: "I am not going to stand down, I am going to stand up."

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) admitted that it had made a mistake in asserting that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035.

Critics say the mistake has damaged the scientific credibility of the IPCC.

"I was re-elected by acclamation, essentially - I imagine - because everyone was satisfied with my performance on the fourth assessment report," Dr Pachauri said.

"I am now charged with producing the fifth assessment report, which I will do faithfully and to the best of my abilities."

Credibility concerns

Last week, IPCC vice-chairman Jean-Pascal van Ypersele admitted that the inclusion of the 2035 date in a key report was a mistake.

Dr Pachauri blamed "human error" for the mistake Climate body admits glacier error Himalaya glacier deadline 'wrong'

The date appeared in the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report (4AR), which read: "Glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world... the likelihood of them disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high."

A number of scientists had recently disputed the date, after a row erupted in India late last year in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate summit, which BBC News reported on 05 December.

Opposing factions in the Indian government gave radically different opinions of what was happening to Himalayan ice.

Dr Pachauri said the inclusion of the 2035 date in the 4AR, which was published in 2007, was "a case of human error", adding that it was unfortunate that it had happened.

"However, let me emphasise that this does not in any way detract from the fact that the glaciers are melting, and this is a problem that we need to be deeply concerned about."

He told BBC News that he became aware of the error "maybe around the 16th or 17th of January".

"Then we swung into action," he explained.

"I got the entire top team of the IPCC to go through the details of this case, and we decided that this was an error but we also saw that this did not in any way move away from the reality that these glaciers are melting."

FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme

The claim that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035 appears to have originated in a 1999 interview with Indian glaciologist Syed Hasnain, published in New Scientist magazine.

The figure then surfaced in a 2005 report by environmental group WWF - a report that was cited in AR4.

An alternative genesis lies in the misreading of a 1996 study by a Russian researcher that gave the date as 2350.

Gathering storm

In a separate development, a report in the UK's Sunday Times newspaper said the IPCC faced "new controversy for wrongly linking global warming to an increase in the number and severity of natural disasters", in its 2007 milestone report.

However, the IPCC issued a statement that said the story was "misleading and baseless".

It stated: "The assessment addresses both observations of past changes and projections of future changes in sectors ranging from heat waves and precipitation to wildfire.

"Each of these is a careful assessment of the available evidence, with a thorough consideration of the confidence with which each conclusion can be drawn.

"In writing, reviewing, and editing this section, IPCC procedures were carefully followed to produce the policy-relevant assessment that is the IPCC mandate."

Some commentators maintain that these developments, taken together with the contents of e-mails stolen last year from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit, it undermines the credibility of climate science.

"It is about the process with which it comes to its conclusions; how they pick and choose papers, how they emphasise certain problems and how they exaggerate certain potential risks - that is at issue here," Dr Benny Peiser, for the UK-based Global Warming Foundation, told BBC News.

But a defiant Dr Pachauri said: "I want to tell the sceptics... who see me as the face and the voice of the science of climate change, I am in no mood to oblige them; I am going to remain as chairman of the IPCC for my entire term."

AstraZeneca 'suppressed' drug test data

Seroquel brings in almost 10% of AstraZeneca's revenues

The marketing team sued over a drug's alleged side effects tried to suppress key data, an ex-employee has claimed.

Seroquel's former UK medical adviser told the BBC he was pressured to approve promotional material which said weight gain was not an issue.

Maker AstraZeneca, which faces fresh legal action next month, said it took concerns about its conduct seriously.

In the same programme, the British Medical Journal editor urged that the medicine licensing system be reviewed.

Dr Fiona Godlee said industry should no longer provide the evaluations of its own drugs which the licensing body considered.

'Job threat'

Thousands of patients are suing AstraZeneca in US courts, claiming the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel caused weight gain and diabetes.

The patients allege Seroquel, its second biggest selling drug worth $4.5bn (£2.7bn) a year, was marketed without adequate warning about possible side effects such as massive weight gain and the development of diabetes. However, this is denied by the company.

AstraZeneca, which is facing renewed legal action next month, said the company took concerns about its conduct seriously.

FROM FILE ON 4 More from File on 4

Seroquel was launched in 1997 for treating schizophrenia and later for bipolar disorder. Dr John Blenkinsopp, the company's former UK medical manager, claimed he was pressurised by the company's marketing arm to approve claims about the drug which he felt did not reflect the medical evidence.

"The clinical studies at the time of the launch of Seroquel showed patients developed significant weight gain, significant both statistically and clinically," he told the BBC's File on 4.

"They [the marketing team] came at me with a number of potential claims all of which were trying to intimate that Seroquel was not associated with weight gain - the data pointed in the opposite direction," added Dr Blenkinsopp who was speaking publicly for the first time since he left the company in 2000.

He said: "I understood where they were coming from. I had some robust discussions and exposed them to the data but that didn't seem to stop them because they were desperate for a differential advantage over one of the competitor products and they didn't have one.

"In the end I was put under quite a significant amount of pressure by the marketeers to sign off claims with regards to the lack of weight gain and I was unwilling to sign that off. The marketeers made it clear it could be career limiting for me," Dr Blenkinsopp added.

In the US the drug was marketed with claims that it would not cause weight gain. That was not done in the UK except for one advertisement, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in April 2004.

Licensing reform

Astra Zeneca said it would not comment specifically in reference to its former employees, but said it took seriously any concerns regarding the firm's conduct and compliance procedures and it was currently reviewing issues raised by File on 4's investigation.

It said Seroquel was an important medicine and its safety and efficacy has been evaluated in clinical trials with thousands of patients

Dr Godlee, Editor of the British Medical Journal, told File on 4 that the system of developing and licensing drugs needed a major overhaul to give an independent evaluation of the effects of medications.

She said the pharmaceutical industry had grown enormously and delivered many good and effective drugs. But she warned that its power and influence needed to be controlled.

She has called for independent trials for all new drugs. At present, the regulator - the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority - has to rely on research provided by the drug companies when it licences a medicine.

Dr Godlee said the regulator could sometimes be swamped by the amount of information it was given.

The MHRA says it has seen no evidence of this and maintains it carries out thorough and detailed reviews of any application.

File on 4 is on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday, 26 January , at 2000 GMT, repeated Sunday, 31 January, at 1700 GMT. You can also listen via the BBC iPlayer after broadcast or download the

Rich nations urged to provide $10bn in climate funds

The ministers promised an action-plan to battle global warming

Brazil, China, India and South Africa have urged wealthy nations to hand over $10bn (£6bn) pledged to poor nations in 2010 to fight climate change.

The group - known as Basic - said the money must be available at once "as proof of their commitment" to address the global challenge.

The plea was issued after a meeting of the four nations in Delhi.

The funds were pledged in a non-binding deal agreed at last year's Copenhagen global climate conference.

The deal - the Copenhagen Accord - envisages that $30bn (£18.5bn) of aid will be delivered for developing nations over the next three years.

Basic members were instrumental in fashioning a political accord at the December climate summit.

The next round of negotiations is due to be held in December in Mexico.

'Soft' deadline

After the Delhi talks, environmental ministers from the four nations issued a joint statement calling for rapid distribution of $10bn that industrialised nations promised to the developing world to tackle climate change in 2010.

The first funds should go to the least developed countries, including small island states and African nations, China's top climate negotiator Xi Zhenhua said, the Associated Press reports.

The four nations also broadly endorsed the Copenhagen agreement, the BBC's Sanjoy Majumber in Delhi says.

And they said they would come up with some sort of action-plan on battling global warming, our correspondent adds.

This comes just a week ahead of a deadline for nations signing up to the accord to send figures on how much they will curb emissions.

But amid uncertainty over who is going to sign up, UN climate convention head Yvo de Boer said earlier this week the deadline was "soft".

He said the Copenhagen summit had not delivered the "agreement the world needs" to address climate change.

Pirates seize second UK-flagged vessel

Pirates seize second UK-flagged vessel in days

A UK-flagged cargo ship with 25 crew has been seized by pirates off Somalia, media reports say.

The Asian Glory was taken 620 miles (1,000km) off the Horn of Africa nation's coast, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said.

The vessel, which has a multi-national crew, is the second UK-flagged ship hijacked in days, after chemical tanker the St James Park was seized on Monday.

The waters around Somalia are among the most dangerous in the world.

As well as eight Bulgarians, the other nationalities making up the Asian Glory's crew are said to include Ukrainians, Romanians and Indians.

British officials said there were no UK nationals on board the vessel.

The exact time and location of the hijacking are not yet clear.

The 13,000-tonne ship was reportedly transporting cars from Singapore to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

It is estimated the ship could take up to three days to reach the Somali coast, from where pirates usually hold ransom talks.

The St James Park, which has 26 crew from nine different countries, is currently anchored off the Somali coast, where negotiations for its release are expected to start.

Correspondents say the upsurge in piracy in the region is a consequence of the failure to find a solution to Somalia's continuing political disarray.

Gastric dumping syndrome

Gastric dumping syndrome

Gastric dumping syndrome, or rapid gastric emptying is a condition where ingested foods bypass the stomach too rapidly and enter the small intestine largely undigested. It happens when the upper end of the small intestine, the jejunum, expands too quickly due to the presence of hyperosmolar^[jargon] food from the stomach. "Early" dumping begins concurrently or immediately succeeding a meal. Symptoms of early dumping include nausea, vomiting, bloating, cramping, diarrhea, dizziness and fatigue. "Late" dumping happens 1 to 3 hours after eating. Symptoms of late dumping include weakness, sweating, and dizziness. Many people have both types. The syndrome is most often associated with gastric surgery.

It is speculated that "early" dumping is associated with difficulty digesting fats while "late" dumping is associated with carbohydrates.^{[citation needed]}

Rapid loading of the small intestine with hypertonic stomach contents can lead to rapid entry of water into the intestinal lumen. Osmotic diarrhea, distension of the small bowel (leading to crampy abdominal pain), and hypovolemia can result.

In addition, people with this syndrome often suffer from low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, because the rapid "dumping" of food triggers the pancreas to release excessive amounts of insulin into the bloodstream. This type of hypoglycemia is referred to as "alimentary hypoglycemia".

[edit] Diagnosis

Physicians diagnose dumping syndrome primarily on the basis of symptoms in patients who have had gastric surgery. Tests may be needed to exclude other conditions that have similar symptoms. Two ways of determining if a patient has dumping syndrome include Barium fluoroscopy and radionuclide scintigraphy.

In the first procedure, a contrast of barium-labeled medium is ingested, and x-ray images are taken; early dumping can be easily recognized by premature emptying of the contrast medium from the stomach.

The second method, scintigraphy (or radionuclide scanning), involves a similar procedure in which a labeled medium containing ^99mTc (or other radionuclide) colloid or chelate is ingested. The ^99mTc isotope decays in the stomach, and the gamma photons emitted are detected by a gamma camera; the radioactivity of the area of interest (the stomach) can then be plotted against time on a graph. Patients with dumping syndrome generally exhibit steep drops in their activity plots, corresponding to abnormally rapid emptying of gastric contents into the duodenum.

[edit] Treatment

Dumping syndrome is largely avoidable by avoiding certain foods that are likely to cause it, therefore having a balanced diet is important. Treatment includes changes in eating habits and medication. People who have gastric dumping syndrome need to eat several small meals a day that are low in carbohydrates, avoiding simple sugars, and should drink liquids between meals, not with them. Fibers delay gastric emptying and reduce insulin peaks. People with severe cases take medicine such as octreotide, cholestyramine or proton pump inhibitors (such as pantoprazole) to slow their digestion. Doctors may also recommend surgery. Surgical intervention may include conversion of a Billroth II to a Roux-en Y gastrojejunostomy.

[edit] Source

Most of the text of this article is taken from http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/rapidgastricemptying/index.htm

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London healthcare 'heads towards crisis', say doctors

BMA predicts the NHS will need to cut hospital services in London

London hospitals "could close as healthcare in the capital heads towards a major financial crisis", the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.

As much as £5bn could be cut from NHS London's budget by 2017, it claimed.

The BMA's report, London's NHS On The Brink, predicts that from 2011 there will be a freeze on NHS budgets, with the worst cuts falling in London.

But an NHS spokesman said: "To give people leading expert care we also need to centralise some services."

'Unproven polysystems'

The BMA's report, written by health expert Dr John Lister, criticises some of the proposals that NHS London has made public, including:

• Cutting the number of people going to hospital A&E departments by a target of 60% and the number going to hospital outpatients by 55%
• Diverting millions of patients to "unproven polysystems" or clinics that have not yet been built
• Cutting up to £1.1bn from London hospital budgets "forcing wide scale cutbacks and closures"
• A 66% reduction in staffing of "non-acute services", including community services for older people and district nurses
• A 33% cut in the length of GP appointment times

The report surveyed board papers and other published material from primary care trusts (PCTs) in London.

An NHS London spokesman said: "To give Londoners a better standard of NHS care we need to provide more of the services people use the most, closer to where people live.

"To give people leading expert care we also need to centralise some services to create, for example, dedicated stroke and trauma units," he added.

"This will save hundreds of lives every year."

UN climate body admits 'mistake' on Himalayan glaciers

UN climate body admits 'mistake' on Himalayan glaciers

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Neither satellites nor ground observations give a complete picture

The vice-chairman of the UN's climate science panel has admitted it made a mistake in asserting that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) included the date in its 2007 assessment of climate impacts.

A number of scientists have recently disputed the 2035 figure, and Jean-Pascal van Ypersele told BBC News that it was an error and would be reviewed.

But he said it did not change the broad picture of man-made climate change.

The issue, which BBC News first reported on 05 December, has reverberated around climate websites in recent days.

It is so wrong that it is not even worth discussing

Georg Kaser, University of Innsbruck

Himalayas glacier deadline 'wrong'

Some commentators maintain that taken together with the contents of e-mails stolen last year from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit, it undermines the credibility of climate science.

Dr van Ypersele said this was not the case.

"I don't see how one mistake in a 3,000-page report can damage the credibility of the overall report," he said.

"Some people will attempt to use it to damage the credibility of the IPCC; but if we can uncover it, and explain it and change it, it should strengthen the IPCC's credibility, showing that we are ready to learn from our mistakes."

Grey area

The claim that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035 appears to have originated in a 1999 interview with Indian glaciologist Syed Hasnain, published in New Scientist magazine.

The figure then surfaced in a 2005 report by environmental group WWF - a report that is cited in the IPCC's 2007 assessment, known as AR4.

An alternative genesis lies in the misreading of a 1996 study that gave the date as 2350.

AR 4 asserted: "Glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world... the likelihood of them disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high."

Dr van Ypersele said the episode meant that the panel's reviewing procedures would have to be tightened.

Slow reaction?

The row erupted in India late last year in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate summit, with opposing factions in the government giving radically different narratives of what was happening to Himalayan ice.

IPCC chief Rajendra Pachauri has been criticised by Jairam Ramesh

In December, it emerged that four leading glaciologists had prepared a letter for publication in the journal Science arguing that a complete melt by 2035 was physically impossible.

"You just can't accomplish it," Jeffrey Kargel from the University of Arizona told BBC News at the time.

"If you think about the thicknesses of the ice - 200-300m thicknesses, in some cases up to 400m thick - and if you're losing ice at the rate of a metre a year, or let's say double it to two metres a year, you're not going to get rid of 200m of ice in a quarter of a century."

The row continues in India, with Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh calling this week for the IPCC to explain "how it reached the 2035 figure, which created such a scare".

Meanwhile, in an interview with the news agency AFP, Georg Kaser from the University of Innsbruck in Austria - who led a different portion of the AR4 process - said he had warned that the 2035 figure was wrong in 2006, before AR4's publication.

"It is so wrong that it is not even worth discussing," he told AFP in an interview.

He said that people working on the Asia chapter "did not react".

He suggested that some of the IPCC's working practices should be revised by the time work begins on its next landmark report, due in 2013.

But its overall conclusion that global warming is "unequivocal" remains beyond reproach, he said.

BBC News - UN climate body admits 'mistake' on Himalayan glaciers