Around 40,000 women in the UK
have been fitted with PIP implants
The Health Secretary for England,
Andrew Lansley, is facing calls for more decisive action to help women concerned
about PIP breast implants.
The Independent Healthcare Advisory Services (IHAS) says women are more
confused and anxious than ever.
Mr Lansley says private clinics that fitted implants have a "moral duty" to
remove them.
But IHAS director Sally Taber says its members are "as much a victim of this
fraud as the NHS and the patients".
In a statement on behalf of the trade body - which represents many of the
companies involved - she said: "If there is any moral or ethical obligation
outstanding it lies with the government's regulatory agency, the MHRA.
"But the overriding issue here is that it is in everyone's interest to work
together to ensure that patients are treated with compassion."
Around 40,000 women in the UK have been fitted with PIP implants.
The implants by French firm Poly Implant Prothese were banned last year after
they were found to contain a non-medical-grade silicone filler. "Unclear"
On Wednesday the Harley Medical Group - which fitted 13,900 women with the
implants between September 2001 and March 2010 - said it would not replace them
free of charge.
Its chairman Mel Braham said the company didn't have the resources, surgeons
or operating facilities necessary.
Mr Lansley said the NHS would pay to remove, but not replace, implants if a
private clinic refused or no longer existed.
But speaking in the House of Commons, he said it was not fair for the
taxpayer to foot the bill and that if the NHS was forced to remove an implant
"the government would pursue private clinics to seek recovery of our costs".
Ms Taber said whilst the intention was to offer guidance, Mr Lansley had
confused patients.
She said: "With the current government position remaining unclear, patients
want to know the timeline for the further investigations into PIP implants by
the MHRA."
She went on to complain that IHAS has been unable to meet officials to
discuss a solution, something the Department of Health strongly denies
Evidence of neglect at Partridge Care Centre in Harlow
uncoveredIn August 2011 Partridge Care Centre, in Harlow, was at the centre of a police inquiry after three people were taken to hospital with "diabetes related problems".Two women in their 80s died, although Essex Police dropped the investigation saying there was no evidence of "any relevant criminal offences".
The home's owner Rushcliffe Care Limited acknowledged there had been problems in the past, but claimed it had taken steps to make sure residents' "health and well-being are paramount".
But documents seen by BBC Essex show there were serious problems at the home before the police investigation.
Partridge Care Centre is a residential nursing home specialising in looking after people with a range of neurological conditions.
It is run by Rushcliffe Care, which also owns 23 other homes.
The centre has rooms for 117 residents, although at the moment it is less than half full, and presently employs about 120 staff.
Former worker at the home Graham Flack said he had witnessed abuse and neglect of residents during his time there.
"There was an incident where a certain member of staff was sitting on a resident, who was quite challenging… I would say restraining someone like you see on telly via the police," he said.
"At the end of the day no-one deserves to be held or pushed in any form or manner. It was not nice, not nice."
Lesley Minchin's mother Eileen Jarvis suffered from dementia and required specialist care.
She moved into the home in February 2011, with instructions that she should not be left alone because she was likely to fall.
According to a letter from the centre's manager to the family, Mrs Jarvis was left unattended during a shift change.
She got up, fell and broke her hip. It was two hours before staff at the home called the emergency services.
Mrs Minchin said she had got to the home at the same time as the paramedics.
'Screamed out'
"She was screaming out in pain when I arrived there and they were trying to ask her where the pain was," Mrs Minchin said.
"She said she didn't know but was hurting. When they touched her leg, she just screamed out."
Mrs Minchin claimed many of the problems at the home were caused by a lack of employees.
"The staff, on the whole, were very, very good. There just wasn't enough of them," she said.
The Care Quality Commission has carried out a series of inspections at Partridge Care Centre since May.
In the most recent report published in December, the health watchdog said it had minor concerns over staffing levels.
"Overall we found that there were sufficient numbers of staff available in the home, however there was a lack of effective leadership and deployment due to the large numbers of agency staff working there."
The CQC also found failings in four of the five basic standards during this inspection, including concerns about whether residents were safe in the home and whether they are receiving appropriate treatment.
Written warnings
BBC Essex has seen a report written after a surprise visit to the home by two managers in May 2011.
They found that several staff were asleep while on duty, a serious disciplinary offence.
The managers found one resident lying on an unmade bed that was smeared with faeces. Another was found sitting on the floor and had soiled themselves.
Other residents were found wandering around on their own, yet more were found in bed fully clothed.
The building was said to have smelt of urine and one of the units had no lights on.
Further documents show that some of the staff involved were only given written warnings.
An internal audit carried out by staff at Partridge Care Centre in July found that most of the residents' rooms were dirty.
Of the 21 homes run by Rushcliffe Care Limited, eight of them are failing at least one of the basic standards expected by the CQC.
'Unsubstantiated allegations'
According to its accounts, in the past year the company posted a £1.6m profit.
In a statement, the company said: "Following a series of unfortunate locally mismanaged events at Partridge Care Centre over the past nine months, Rushcliffe Care Group have taken measures so that the health and wellbeing of the centres' residents are paramount.
"We are unable to comment on individual unsubstantiated allegations, which have been made, but we... take all complaints and allegations seriously and when brought to our attention they are dealt with promptly and fairly."
Essex County Council said it had suspended the placement of residents at the home after the hospital referrals related to diabetes in August.
In a statement, Ann Naylor, cabinet member for adult health, said: "The formal suspension of placements at Partridge Care Centre will remain in place, in consultation with Rushcliffe Care management, until such time that partners are fully satisfied that sustainable improvements in the wellbeing and care of residents have been achieved."
The BBC Radio 4 Today programme produced a remarkable investigative report on Kindoki (Witchcraft) that may have led to the death of a man, Nzuzi Mayingi, found hanging from a tree in Crystal Palace Park in July 2005. The man was part of a 400 strong congregation of a Congolese Christian Cult led by Pastor Dieudonne Tukala who also lives in South London.
It was alleged that Tukala declared women and children to be possessed by the devil. This led to one man beating and branding his 9 year old with a steam iron and led Nzuzi to commit suicide. The BBC report showed how the children were terrorised into admitting they were possessed. If they refused it was said that Tukala encouraged the families to send the children back to the Congo where he could pray for them to die.
Nzuzi Mayingi and his pregnant wife and son arrived in the UK as asylum seekers in 2002. They began attending Pastor Dieudonne Tukala's church in North London. Tukula diagnosed the wife, boy and unborn child to be Kindoki (possessed). Nzuzi believed this and, according to a church elder was encouraged by Tukala to beat his family and witnessed the child's wounds. Nzuzi eventually threw his family out onto the street. Members of the congregation pursued the wife with abusive calls calling them witches "who will choke on your dead husband's flesh".
Within 18 months Nzumi was dead. The family have fled to the north of England. The BBC investigation detailed other allegations of Tukala taking money, jewellery and credit cards.
4 hours after the BBC broadcast Scotland Yard said officers from its Child Abuse Investigation Command had arrested a man, 40, in south London on suspicion of inciting child cruelty.
Last June three people in another Kindoki case were convicted at the Old Bailey on Friday on child cruelty charges, after an eight-year-old African girl accused of being a witch was tortured in East London. This is part of growing concern in London by the exploitation of vulnerable Congolese and Angolan refugees by Christian fundamentalist evangelical cults.
Kristy Bamu, 15, from Paris, was found dead in Newham, east London, on Christmas Day in 2010.
His sister Magalie Bamu and her boyfriend, Eric Bikubi, both 28 and living in Newham, deny murder.
The Old Bailey heard they made a woman cut her hair to "release the witchcraft".
Prosecutor Brian Altman, QC, said Naomi Ilonga, 19, was a family friend who stayed with the couple for a month in August 2008.
He said Mr Bikubi told Magalie Bamu to throw anything away that Naomi had touched, including articles of clothing and pots, pans and plates.
"Bikubi did not allow them to eat for three days and told Naomi to pray. He prayed to release Naomi's 'spiritual soul'.
"They stayed and slept together in the living room for the three days but prayed all night and slept little.
"Naomi had to consent to the cutting of her hair, which was long and of which she was so proud, to release the witchcraft."
It was also alleged in court that Ms Ilonga had also been grabbed and slapped hard on the back.
'Armoury of weapons'
On Thursday, the court heard that Kristy Bamu had 101 injuries and died from drowning and being beaten with a metal bar.
Prosecutors talked of acts they described as "depraved", "wicked" and "cruel".
Kristy and his siblings were visiting the couple for Christmas, but Mr Bikubi had accused the boy and two of his siblings of witchcraft.
Kristy Bamu and his siblings were visiting London from Paris during the Christmas holidays
All three were beaten and other children were forced to join in the attacks. But it was Kristy who became the focus of Mr Bikubi's attention, the prosecution said.
The teenager was said to be in such pain after days of being hit with an "armoury of weapons" including sticks, pliers, a metal bar, hammer and chisel, that he begged to die.
Jurors were told that Kristy died when he was "too exhausted" to resist and keep his head above water when Mr Bikubi put him in a bath. Mr Bikubu realised too late Kristy was not moving.
Mr Bikubi has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, a plea not accepted by the prosecution.
He has also admitted assaulting Kristy's siblings.
Ms Bamu denies the murder charge, as well as two charges of causing actual bodily harm to her other siblings.
Mr Altman said she had taken part in the abuse and had been "stoking the fire of violence".
The defendants are originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo where witchcraft or sorcery - called kindoki - is practised in some churches, said Mr Altman.
The trial continues on Monday.
Demonic Possession, Oppression & Exorcism
A West African / Fundamentalist Christian syncretistic religion in the UK
Sponsored link.
Dr Richard Hoskins of King's College, London, UK is a consultant to the Metropolitan Police on religiously-motivated crime. He testified in 2005-JUN at a trial of three adults charged with the physical abuse of a ten year old child, whom we will call "AB." In this case, a West African woman had brought her niece, AB, to Britain from Angola in 2002 by passing her off as her own daughter. The girl's actual parents are believed to be dead. The aunt, the girl, and two other adults lived together in an apartment in Hackney, East London. An eight-year-old boy who lived with AB accused her of attacking him in the night with witchcraft. The adults agreed that the 10-year old girl was a witch and practiced an evil form of witchcraft. It is quite possible that the adults were terrified of the harm that they felt AB would do to them or to others. "Witchcraft" is a term with over a dozen different meanings, some mutually exclusive. Definitions range from evil sorcery to Wicca, a benign, earth centered religion. In this case, the word is used to refer to a blend of evil sorcery and black magic -- a practice intended to harm or even kill other humans. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC):
Dr. Hoskins said that: "...belief in 'ndoki' - the [Lingala] word for witchcraft - is widespread in West Africa and among some immigrant communities in London, fuelled by a massive growth in small fundamentalist Christian churches. The abusers in this case - who worshipped at such a church in Hackney - may have believed they were carrying out a form of exorcism, driving out evil spirits. All of the accused are committed Fundamentalist Christians.
"Correspondent Angus Crawford said community workers believed the growth of 'breakaway churches' could be one possible cause of the abuse. A minority of these preach a powerful blend of traditional African beliefs and evangelical Christianity."
One of the accused, Sita Kisanga, "said the girl was possessed by an evil spirit, known as kindoki. 'In our community, kindoki happens. It is killing people. It is doing bad things,' she said." Subsequently, when interviewed on the radio, Kisanga said that "Kindoki is something you have to be scared of because in our culture kindoki can kill you and destroy your life completely. Kindoki can make you barren. Sometimes kindoki can ruin you chances of staying in this country. The authorities will arrest you and deport you and kindoki can be part of it."
Another of the accused is reported as believing that AB, as a witch, transported herself to Africa during the nighttime to do bad things.
According to the News.telegraph:
Kisanga was a regular at a church called Combat Spirituel, based in Dalston, East London. Police found notes which suggested that she had been to a prayer meeting about the little girl's possession. A diary entry found at her home read: 'On retreat there was indeed a prophecy that [the girl] has got ndoki'."
Children affected by what is known as "ndoki" were usually treated as suffering from an "external" affliction that could be dealt with by a curative medicine, without violence. However, the beliefs of some fundamentalist Christian sects in "internal" possession and the need to exorcise evil forces had mixed with traditional beliefs to create incidents in which children were beaten to be cured. "The exorcisms are usually confrontational, much more aggressive," Mr Hoskins said.
One BBC article showed a drawing of the girl with 43 scars on her body where she was cut.
There are allegations that the three adults hoped that an exorcism would drive out the demons and end the danger that the girl represented to the adults. An exorcism required the use of extreme physical pain in order to force the demons to leave AB. The girl testified that the adults slapped, punched and kicked her repeatedly. One pushed a kitchen knife into her chest until it drew blood. She told police, "It's because my auntie says I have witchcraft. She dances and laughs when she hits me." AB was beaten with belt buckles and a high-heeled shoe. She was only fed tea and bread. The adults seemed particularly concerned that the girl would practice her evil powers at nighttime. So they woke her up twice and rubbed chili-peppers into her eyes. They forced her into a large plastic bag, allegedly to "throw her away for good" by drowning her in a nearby river. But they changed their mind at the last moment.
She was discovered on a cold November morning, covered in cuts and bruises, with swollen eyes, on the steps to her block of apartments. According to the person who found her, she seemed "freezing cold and terrified."
Is this case unique?
According to the BBC: "Dr Hoskins says there are a growing number of reports of children being abused as a result of accusations of witchcraft and social services are currently investigating four other almost identical cases - although he says this may be only the 'tip of an iceberg'."
Detective Superintendent Chris Bourlet, of the Metropolitan Police leads Project Violet. a program to prevent religiously-motivated child abuse. Bourlet said: "the aim will be prevention, working with churches and communities - not to challenge their beliefs but to raise their awareness of child abuse." A group of about five officers will gather intelligence on the problem and try and persuade churches to follow child protection procedures.
There may be similarities between the current case and the abuse of Victoria Climbe. Her relatives believed that she was possessed by evil spirits. She was subjected to physical abuse to drive out her demons. She was eventually murdered. Dr Richard Hoskins: "It was sheer chance that this little girl [AB] was rescued in time. If she hadn't been then the injuries and abuse would in all probability have escalated and she could well have ended up as the next Victoria Climbie."
First 'mixed embryo' monkeys bornThe monkeys' cells are derived from more than one embryo,
yet they are normal and healthyThe animals were born after researchers combined cells from different embryos and implanted them into female monkeys.Such animals, which contain genetically distinct groups of cells from more than one organism, are called "chimeras".A US team, which hasreported its work in the journal Cell, says the advance could have "enormous" importance for medical researchChimeras are important for studying embryonic development, but research has largely been restricted to mice.The rhesus monkeys, which are normal and healthy, are made up of a mixture of cells representing as many as six distinct individuals.
"The cells never fuse, but they stay together and work together to form tissues and organs," said co-author Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, US.
Early decisions
Initial efforts by Dr Mitalipov's team to produce living monkey chimeras by introducing cultured embryonic stem cells into monkey embryos - a well-established means for generating chimeric mice - failed.Stem cells are the "master cells" that can transform into a variety of more specialised cells required in the body.
The embryonic stem cells the team tried and failed with were at a developmental stage known as "pluripotency". This means they can transform into any tissue type in the body, but cannot turn into the placenta or an entire animal.
The researchers were only able to make monkey chimeras when they mixed cells from very early stage embryos, in which each individual embryonic cell was "totipotent".
These totipotent cells are capable of giving rise to a whole animal as well as the placenta and other life-sustaining tissues.
Dr Mitalipov said it appeared that primate embryos prevented cultured embryonic stem cells from becoming integrated as they do in mice.
The study also suggests that cultured primate and human embryonic stem cells, some of which have been maintained in labs for as long as two decades, may not be as potent as those found inside a living embryo.
Primate embryos seem to resist the integration of cultured embryonic stem cells
Prof Robin Lovell-Badge, from the UK National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, called the advance "very important".
The researcher, who was not involved in the study, told BBC News: "Assumptions about the way human embryos develop have always been based on the mouse."
But he added that this could be a "dangerous assumption".
Chimeras can be used to understand the role of specific genes in the development of embryos as well as for studying the overall mechanisms of development.
For example, if studying a genetic mutation that causes cells to die, it is much more useful if the embryo is rescued by normal cells that allow the scientists to continue their work.Prof Lovell-Badge said there had been a growing feeling for some time that pluripotent stem cells from humans and monkeys were different from those in mice.
The latest research suggests the biological pathways to restrict cells in their ability to form different tissue types are passed earlier in monkeys than they are in mice.
"We cannot model everything in the mouse," Dr Mitalipov explained. "If we want to move stem cell therapies from the lab to clinics and from the mouse to humans, we need to understand what these primate cells can and can't do.
"We need to study them in humans, including human embryos."
But he stressed there was no practical use for producing human chimeras.
Stem cell therapies hold promise for replacing damaged nerve cells in those who have been paralysed due to a spinal cord injury and, for example, the brain cells lost in Parkinson's Disease.
One in 12 of the 40,000 British women who have received faulty breast implants containing industrial silicone is at risk of developing serious medical complications, The Independent on Sunday has learned.
Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, ordered an urgent review yesterday into the quality of data about the proportion of women who have had problems with the French-made Poly Implants Prothèses (PIP) implants at the centre of the scandal.
The IoS can exclusively reveal the investigation was triggered by a leading cosmetic surgery firm, which privately warned ministers that the proportion of women at risk is as high as 8 per cent, rather than the 1 per cent previously claimed in the UK.
The company is responsible for about 4,000 of the UK's PIP implants, but if an 8 per cent rupture rate proves accurate and is widely replicated, it could mean a total of 3,200 women are affected. In France, where authorities shut down PIP last year, the risk of rupture is said to be about 5 per cent, and women have been advised to have the implants removed – a move backed by British surgeons but not, so far, by ministers.
But if the risk rate is confirmed as being substantially higher in the UK than in France, pressure will grow for the Department of Health to follow the French Health Minister, Xavier Bertrand, in urging women to have them removed. Abnormal rupture rates of the implants, which contain industrial-strength silicone commonly used in mattresses, emerged in 2009. Symptoms can include lumps around the implant or in the under-arm, inflammation in the breast tissue and a hardening of the breast.
"Our priority is making sure that women get the correct advice so that they are kept safe," Mr Lansley said, as he announced that the NHS medical director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, will review the data given to the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
An emergency report is expected on Mr Lansley's desk early this week. The MHRA will audit all data held on the quality of the implants, including information from private clinics, which are responsible for about 95 per cent of implant procedures.
More than 250 British women are said to be suing the clinics that treated them. Mr Lansley said: "I want to reassure women that if any new data calls into question the safety of these implants, we will act swiftly to help them." He highlighted concerns about the "content and quality of the data that cosmetic surgery providers are sharing with the regulator".
Last night, surgeons accused the MHRA of downplaying the true extent of the problem and called for an implant register to track when things go wrong. The MHRA is now considering such a move. If British women are advised to have the PIP implants removed, the NHS could be left to pick up the bill as many of the clinics responsible are no longer in business.
Fazel Fatah, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said: "[It could be] better to take them out now rather than wait for them to rupture, which makes the procedure more complicated. We think the French decision is not unreasonable at all."
Andy Burnham, the shadow Health Secretary, said: "The Government should provide more advice and support to women who may be affected by this announcement. I have heard reports that some women are experiencing delays or difficulty in accessing records from private cosmetic surgery companies, or in some cases large fees. That is unacceptable."
Dr Susanne Ludgate, clinical director of the MHRA, said concerns had been raised by "conflicting data" coming from the cosmetic surgery industry. "It raises doubts about the surveillance and reporting of incidents by these companies. We will urgently work to identify where problems may be," she added.
Paul Balen, of Freeth Cartwright solicitors, has spent years representing British women who have been fitted with PIP implants. The implant company came to the attention of the MHRA more than a decade ago, when concerns over its Trilucent implants led to them being recalled in 2000; the MHRA advised removing them, according to Mr Balen.
Peter Walsh, from the patient safety charity Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA), said there can be "no doubt that the systems of regulation which are supposed to protect patients have already been shown to be wanting". The AvMA is now calling for the Commons Health Select Committee to investigate.
Chinese manufacturers are increasingly "faking" popular Indian products of consumer goods giants such as Dabur and ITC, undermining the legitimacy of brands and causing losses worth as much as $5 billion annually, officials said.
"A lot of counterfeit Dabur products are made in China. We have conducted at least 20 raids in China but no proper action has been taken by the Chinese," said Ashok Jain, general manager of finance at Dabur India, the country's fourth largest FMCG firm.
He said such fake products manufactured in China with "Made-in-India" tag are supplied across the world, mostly in India and African countries.
"It causes huge damage to the brand. Those fake products are obviously not up to our standards and supplied at very low prices," Jain told IANS.
Dabur, which has nearly $4 billion market capitalisation, operates in key consumer product categories like healthcare, skin care, hair care and oral care. The company's revenue last fiscal was $910 million.
Pradeep Dixit, a senior official of ITC, a $33-billion conglomerate, said the popular FMCG brands of the company were counterfeited by unscrupulous firms and supplied in domestic as well as foreign markets.
"Our popular cigarette brand is faked and supplied widely in the states like Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," he said.
"China is a big problem everybody is facing," said S.K. Goel, chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, told IANS.
Goel said the big international brands like Nokia, Adidas, Reebok and Nivea were also widely counterfeited in China and supplied in India and other parts of the world.
Chinese manufacturers are also faking drugs, endangering lives of patients. Fake drugs, carrying " Made in India" tags, supplied from China were recently detained in Nigeria and other African countries.
K.K. Vyas, Delhi's deputy commissioner of police (crime), said the police have seized and confiscated a lot of fake and counterfeited products of popular brands in the national capital recently.
Vyas emphasised on the need for enhancing punishment for unscrupulous manufacturers and importers. "Punishment needs to be enhanced. Also there is need that judiciary addresses these issues quickly."
"Counterfeiting is a big menace. It is hurting everybody - consumers, industry and the exchequer," said Anil Rajput, chairman of the anti-smuggling and anti-counterfeiting committee of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Recently, FICCI formed a panel called "FICCI-Cascade" that expands into a committee on anti-smuggling and counterfeiting activities destroying the economy. Chaired by Rajput, the committee is working closely with the government to curb this menace.
According to a report by think tank Indiaforensic Research Foundation, the total loss to the economy annually due to crimes such as counterfeiting, commercial fraud, smuggling, drug trafficking, bank fraud, tax evasion and graft is estimated at Rs.22,528 crore.
Christmas trees help Teignbridge Scouts and zoo animals
Unwanted Christmas trees could benefit both scouts and zoo animals in Devon.
Teignbridge Scouts, who are trying to raise funds for new headquarters in Kingkerswell, plan to collect trees and take them to Paignton Zoo in January.
The zoo said many of its animals will enjoy playing with the Christmas trees, provided they have not been sprayed with toxic fake snow or glitter.
The scouts, who are asking for a minimum donation of £5, will carry out tree collections on 7 and 8 January.
'Novelty value'
In order to help the scout troop's venture, a number of local Christmas tree retailers handed out flyers with the trees.
Scout spokesman Steve Michaels said it was a service with multiple benefits.
"It's great to be able to deliver the trees to the zoo rather than send them off to landfill," he said
"This is helping young people, helping the environment and helping the animals at the zoo."
Paignton Zoo spokesman Phil Knowling said meerkats, primates and tapirs were among the animals that would benefit.
"The new textures and scents are stimulating - and you can't underestimate the sheer novelty value of a small conifer tree suddenly appearing in an enclosure," he said
Around 40,000 women in the UK
have been fitted with PIP implants
