Health inspectors to look again at misdiagnosed cancer death

DutchNews, July 30, 2019

Health ministry inspectors have decided to carry out a further investigation into the  death of Irish national Adrienne Cullen, who died of cervical cancer at the end of last year, following two missed diagnoses. 

The inspectorate has written to her husband Peter Cluskey, informing him that they   have decided to further investigate the case with a focus on ‘improvement measures’ to determine if the risk of the same thing happening again had been reduced. 

The investigation will take place in the next two months. 

In May, officials at Utrecht’s UMC teaching hospital refused to say they were looking again at the results of other women’s cervical cancer tests after a missed diagnosis in 2011 led to Cullen dying of the disease. 

According to an official report on the incident, a test was not diagnosed according to ‘a professional standard’. 

A second biopsy taken at UMC Utrecht in 2011, showing more signs of cancer, was then lost for two years. By the time this biopsy result came to light in 2013, a disease that would have been 90%-95% treatable had become a death sentence. 

The teaching hospital has already admitted liability for medical negligence, and made a record compensation pay-out of €545,000 to Cullen before she died. 

Candid 

Peter Cluskey told DutchNews.nl that he welcomed the investigation because the initial report into the issues was essentially carried out by the hospital itself. 

The pathologist who made the wrong diagnosis has since retired on full service, even though the cancer was spotted later by 11 other experts at different Dutch hospitals, he said. 

‘I believe it is irresponsible of UMC Utrecht not to be more candid about whether and how they are checking other patients’ tests,’ he said. ‘That silence is totally in line with the hospital’s authoritarian share-no-information ethos. I hope the inspectorate can provide more clarity.

Related Article:

Irish woman who fought Dutch hospital secrecy dies of cancer

@AdrienneCullen died at the Netherlands Cancer Institute @hetAVL at 10.15 am today. To those who have been so loyal and generous - particularly @UCC and @osheaucc for her honorary doctorate - a million thanks. She was appallingly treated +and it made her a formidable warrior. RIP pic.twitter.com/Fv0vKiMtMI

— Peter Cluskey (@petercluskey) 31 december 2018

Medical industry again increases sponsorship of doctors, hospitals

Dutchnews, July 29, 2019

Pharmaceutical companies and medical aids makers have again handed over more ‘sponsorship’ money to Dutch healthcare institutions and patients organisations, according to new figures from a register set up to monitor transparency in the sector. 

In total, the industry paid €80m to healthcare groups, a rise of 12% on 2017, the register said on Tuesday. Some 152 companies signed the register, which was set up seven years ago. 

Some €71m of the money went to healthcare institutions such as hospitals and was largely spent on meetings and conferences. 

In total, nearly 3,700 healthcare professionals – mainly medical specialists – were given industry money, largely for presentations or membership of advisory boards. 

Companies are not required by law to include payments in the register. Nor does the register include industry funding for research. However, according to EU rules, drugs firms are required to state by law how much research funding they give on a country by country basis.

Australian ambulance to grant patients' dying wishes

Yahoo – AFP, July 26, 2019

92-year-old Betty Dowsett benefits from a new Australian initiative to fulfil the
wishes of people in palliative care (AFP Photo/HANDOUT, Ange COSTES)

Inspired by an Australian ambulance crew who took a dying woman to the beach on her way to hospital, officials have announced a dedicated vehicle to grant final wishes to terminally ill patients.

In late 2017, ambulance officers in the northern state of Queensland took a detour on the way to hospital as per the wishes of a dying patient who wanted to see the ocean one last time.

The touching gesture was captured by a photo showing a paramedic beside a stretcher facing the ocean at Hervey Bay, on Australia's northeast coast.

Paramedics on the way to hospital in late 2017 made a detour via Hervey Bay, on 

Australia's northeast coast -- to respect the wishes of their dying patient (AFP Photo/

HANDOUT)

This week the Queensland state government announced it was dedicating a decommissioned ambulance to granting dying wishes of terminally ill patients, such as visiting their pets, their children, their grandchildren or visiting an art gallery or museum.

"Fulfilling the final wishes of people can be challenging as you could be transporting someone who can't walk, or sit in a chair, or who might require continuous oxygen or other medical appliances and support," Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said in a statement.

The Australian-first initiative is modelled on a similar programme run in the Netherlands.

"With the Ambulance Wish Queensland programme medically trained volunteers, adapted ambulances, and necessary equipment will transport people to fulfil their wish successfully and safely," Miles added.

Palliative care patient Betty Dowsett enjoys the sunshine in Brisbane’s City 

Botanic Gardens (AFP Photo/HANDOUT, Ange COSTES)

Related Article:

The moment a giraffe 'says goodbye' to a dying zoo worker

The touching moment was captured on film. Photo: Stichting Ambulancewens

WHO says e-cigarettes 'undoubtedly harmful'

Yahoo – AFP, Allison JACKSON, July 26, 2019

The World Health Organization has issued a new warning about e-cigarettes
and called for tougher regulation (AFP Photo/EVA HAMBACH)

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Electronic cigarettes are "undoubtedly harmful" and should be regulated, the WHO said Friday as it warned against the use of vaping products by smokers trying to quit their deadly habit.

The growing popularity of e-cigarettes, battery-powered devices that enable users to inhale addictive nicotine liquids, has raised fears among policymakers worldwide of a new gateway addiction for young people.

While vaping exposes users to lower levels of toxins than smoking, the World Health Organization said the devices still pose "health risks" to users.

"Although the specific level of risk associated with ENDS (electronic nicotine delivery systems) has not yet been conclusively estimated, ENDS are undoubtedly harmful and should therefore be subject to regulation," the WHO said in a new report on the global smoking epidemic.

There was also "insufficient evidence" to support claims of their effectiveness in assisting smokers trying to quit conventional cigarettes, it said.

"In most countries where they are available, the majority of e-cigarette users continue to use e-cigarettes and cigarettes concurrently, which has little to no beneficial impact on health risk and effects," the report said.

Big tobacco companies have been aggressively marketing e-cigarette and heated tobacco products in recent years as they seek new customers.

They argue such products are far less dangerous than traditional cigarettes and can help some smokers completely switch to "safer" alternatives.

But the WHO warned misinformation spread by the tobacco industry about e-cigarettes was "a present and real threat."

Restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes around the world is increasing. San Francisco last month banned the sale and manufacture of the products, which unlike tobacco cigarettes do not burn.

China, home to nearly a third of the world's tobacco smokers, is also planning to regulate the vaping devices.

More effort was needed to help smokers quit, the WHO said in the report, noting only "30 percent of the world's population have access to appropriate tobacco cessation services," such as counseling, telephone hotlines and medication.

Without assistance, only four percent of attempts to stop smoking succeed.

Tobacco claims more than eight million lives each year either from direct use or second-hand smoke, according to the WHO.

While the number of users has declined slightly since 2007, it remains stubbornly high at 1.4 billion, the vast majority of them men.

"People who quit tobacco can live longer, healthier and more productive lives," the WHO said.

Teenager can walk again thanks to Dutch 3D printed spinal implant

DutchNews, July 24, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com

A 16-year-old boy and a woman in her 60s are able to walk and move freely thanks to a 3D printed implant developed by Utrecht’s UMC teaching hospital. 

The treatment, which involves a made-to-measure titanium implant developed by a team of engineers, surgeons and scientists, was the subject of a paper in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet earlier this week. 

‘We now have a blueprint for other hospitals who want to offer the treatment,’ physician and 3D print expert Koen Willemsen said. 

For Rick Duwel, who has neurofibromatosis which causes his spine to become unstable, the operation was an intervention of last resort. His spine collapsed and the implant was the only way complete paralysis could be avoided in the long run.

‘What we came up with was a 3D printed titanium spine support which was tested extensively. We also had to find out about the rules and regulations surrounding these implants. The whole process took six months,’ Willemsen said. 

Legal obstacles often stop hospitals from using the technique, but now that most of the problems have been tackled and a blueprint has been developed it could become more common, said Willemsen. 

At the moment the treatment is geared to people with rare diseases such as neurofibromatosis and the very rare vanishing bone disease which the woman is suffering from. However, Willemsen does not rule out that in future 3D printed implants will become the option of choice for a great range of diseases. 

Duwel said he is proud to be the first person to be fitted with a 3D printed titanium implant, although he told the Volkskrant, ‘Somersaults are out of the question.’

New implant, vaccine trial offer fresh HIV hope

Yahoo – AFP, July 23, 2019

The findings were unveiled during the 10th International AIDS Society (IAS)
Conference in Mexico City (AFP Photo/RODRIGO ARANGUA)

Paris (AFP) - A matchstick-sized implant could revolutionise HIV prevention regimes after early trials suggested the device could stop at-risk people contracting the virus for up to a year at a time, new research showed Tuesday.

Unveiling their findings from a clinical trial at the 10th annual International AIDS Society conference in Mexico City, developers said the device could eventually offer a novel approach to HIV suppression.

It uses a molecule called MK-8591, which is roughly 10 times stronger as an HIV inhibitor than medicines currently on the market, and which has a very high barrier against resistance.

"It slowly releases the drug and maintains a very consistent level of the drug in your body and taking this prophylactically it can actually prevent you from getting infected," Mike Robertson, director global clinical development for virology at MSD research, told AFP.

Currently, individuals at high risk of contracting HIV have to take a pill every day in order to guarantee their protection.

In its annual report on the disease, the United Nations this month said that global AIDS deaths had fallen one third since 2010 to roughly 770,000 in 2018.

But it warned that the decline in new infection rates was slowing worldwide, and in some regions including Eastern Europe and the Middle East, rates were increasing dramatically.

Robertson said that the implant, or even a monthly pill containing the same active ingredient could provide more options for at risk communities.

"The people that are at highest risk are different populations -- for example men who have sex with men still remain in the US and Europe the group that has the highest rate of new infections," he said.

"But globally the highest incidence rate is in young women in sub-Saharan Africa and this is another group where most the new infections are occurring."

Anton Pozniak, International AIDS Society president, said that the implant "offers another choice for those who might in the future also have pills and injectables available" to prevent infection.

Tuesday also saw fresh analysis unveiled on a recent clinical trial into the safety and tolerability of a HIV vaccine.

The Phase 2 trial took place in Kenya, Rwanda and the United States among healthy, low-risk, HIV negative adults. The initial results showed that the vaccines were well-tolerated among subjects.

A Phase 3 trial is now in planning.

"These are very promising times in HIV vaccine research, with multiple efficacy clinical trials ongoing, new approaches in development, and a growing sense that we may be getting closer to an effective vaccine," said Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise Director Roger Tatoud.

Louvre museum removes Sackler name amid opioid controversy

Yahoo – AFP, July 17, 2019

Paris's iconic Louvre is believed to be the first museum in the world to remove
the Sackler name over the opioid crisis (AFP Photo/Ludovic MARIN)

Paris (AFP) - The Louvre museum in Paris has removed the name of the Sackler family from one of its wings, amid a controversy that has seen the billionaire donors accused of pushing a highly-addictive opioid blamed for tens of thousands of deaths.

An AFP reporter on Wednesday saw that masking tape had been put in place to hide the Sackler name on plaques in the rooms of what had been the Sackler Wing of Oriental Antiquities, which houses artefacts from the ancient Near East.

A museum spokesperson could not say when the tape had been put in place. The wing had been given the name due to a $3.6 million donation made by the Sackler family in 1996.

Louvre president Jean-Luc Martinez said on RTL television on Tuesday that the rooms no longer carried the name as such a tribute lasted a maximum of 20 years after the donation.

This would mean that the Sackler wing should not have been named after the family for several years. But the Louvre spokesperson declined to comment when asked why the name had not been removed three years ago.

American group PAIN (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now), backed by American photographer Nancy Goldin, a former opioid addict, had urged the museum to rename the Sackler Wing.

The Louvre was the latest in a string of museums to face criticism over links to the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma, whose painkiller OxyContin is now subject to more than 1,000 lawsuits over its role in the US opioid crisis.

In recent months, galleries including New York's Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum, and London's Tate and National Portrait Gallery, said they would stop accepting donations from the family.

But the Louvre is believed to be the first to actually remove the name, a move welcomed by a PAIN spokesperson while noting that the museum appeared unwilling to publicise it.

In 2017, 47,000 people died in the United States as a result of overdosing on opioids including prescription drugs, heroin and fentanyl, the Centers for Disease Control says.

There are hundreds of lawsuits in various US states against both Purdue and its owner the Sackler family, who are accused of pushing for the prescription of OxyContin despite knowing how addictive it is.

But worries about the medication are not confined to the US.

Last month, around 100 French doctors warned about the risk of a health crisis claiming there were "12 million people in France taking opioids" who had not been told about the potential for addiction and risk of overdose.

Photographer Nan Goldin leads a protest out of the Guggenheim Museum in

Manhattan, New York, against its funding by the Sackler family, the owners of

Oxycontin manufacturer Purdue. Photograph: Yana Paskova/The Guardian

Related Article:

Massive lawsuit says Sackler family broke laws to profit from opioids

Canadian province sues opioid makers, distributors

Oxycodone overdoses in the Netherlands soar as prescriptions rise

Painkiller overdose deaths up 5x among US women

Dutch Seroxat teen users to sue drug maker for side effects

Science & Spiritually Conference 2018, BC – Canada (4), June 16-17, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Text version “Predictions”)

".... Let me tell you what else is in the field. Two things: These are going to be things that exist now in the field and they are upcoming potentials. The reason I give you these potentials is so if they happen, just like the handshake, you might believe a little more in this process.

There will come a time when Big Pharma will fall over because of a growing higher consciousness of the public. [Applause in the audience] There is a consciousness growing here that begins to have a new respect for each other, so that abuse of women will no longer be tolerated. Things that never happened before will begin happening, like bishops and cardinals resigning. [All 34 bishops in the Catholic Church resigned May 2018 after the new wild card pope called them on their reaction to child abuse for years by their colleagues.] All the things my partner brought today [in the seminar] are actually happening now. Why should some of these drug companies fail? Because there will be a strong reaction from your general public when they realize there are companies that have policies that would keep a Human sick or let him die for money. [Applause in the audience] It would be unconscionable, and the potential grows stronger daily that it's going to happen. The trigger? It's coming. When it does, that industry will be in trouble. Not all pharma is this way, dear ones - understand this - but the ones who are will fall. ..."

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Dallas Texas, Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

Biotech firm Galapagos agrees $5bn research deal with Gilead

DutchNews, July 15, 2019 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Dutch-Belgian biotech company Galapagos has agreed a $5.1bn deal with Gilead Sciences which sees the US group almost double its stake from 12.3% to 22%. 

The deal includes a $3.95bn upfront payment and $1.1bn equity investment and gives Gilead exclusive access to all current and future compounds produced by Galapagos.  Galapagos will use the cash to expand its research activities and build commercial infrastructure. 

Galapagos also said it would ask its shareholders to allow Gilead to increase its ownership to up to 29.9%. This would be followed by a 10-year standstill clause that would prevent Gilead from accumulating any additional stake or seeking to take over the company. 

Galapagos’ portfolio currently includes six molecules in clinical trials and more than 20 pre-clinical programmes, Gilead said. 

The deal ‘reflects Gilead’s intent to grow our innovation network through diverse and creative partnerships,’ chief executive Daniel O’Day said in the website statement. 

The two companies have also agreed to amend certain terms around the development and commercialisation of filgotinib, the experimental drug developed by Galapagos to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. 

Galapagos, which is based in Belgium and listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange, was formed in 1999.

Amsterdam wants to bring in ‘no junk food zones’ around schools

DutchNews, July 15, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com 

Officials in Amsterdam wants to restrict the number of snack bars and fast food joints near schools in an effort to reduce obesity rates among the city’s children. 

A campaign launched in 2012 helped reduced the percentage of too-heavy children in the Dutch capital from 21% to 18% over a three-year period but the decline has since halted. 

Now alderman Simone Kukenheim plans to take further action to improve the health of the city’s school going children. She wants to introduce a ‘healthy belt’ around schools without snack bars to prevent children filling up on chips and sweets during their breaks, the Parool reported at the weekend. 

Kukenheim hopes new zoning legislation which will come into effect in 2021 and which aims to ensure a ‘safe and healthy physical environment’ will help reduce the number of snack bars near schools. ‘We are researching how these new rules can be used to encourage a healthier supply of food,’ the alderman said. 

The city has also recently expanded the number of water fountains in the city to encourage children to ditch fizzy drinks. 

Minister 

The alderman has appealed to health minister Paul Blokhuis, urging him to get tougher on the sugar, salt and fat content in food. She also wants him to clamp down on the way unhealthy food is marketed at children. 

Socio-economic status and cultural background also play a role in childhood obesity and the problem is largely confined to poorer parts of the city and among immigrant communities. 

The 2012 campaign included advising schools to ban fruit juices, and unhealthy treats for at birthday celebrations and introduced a ban on fast food sponsorship of council events involving children. 

Amsterdam already bans cannabis cafes, or coffeeshops, from being within 250 metres of a school.

New Petten reactor for medical isotopes gets financial backing

DutchNews, July 8, 2019 

The existing reactor is due to close in 2025. Photo: Svdmolen via Wikimedia
Commons

Work on a new reactor at the Petten nuclear plant dedicated to producing medical isotopes is due to begin in 2021 after the government announced it had secured financial backing.

The current reactor, which is 60 years old and owned by the European Commission, is due to be closed in 2025. The decision caused alarm in the medical community because Petten produces 30% of the global supplies of medical isotopes, which are used in the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. 

Heath minister Bruno Bruins wrote in a letter to parliament that a number of interested parties were prepared to finance the project, but did not disclose who they were. 

‘There is still a lot of work to be done, but now that a number of private investors have come forward we can start work in earnest,’ he said. Bruins said a backup plan was being prepared ‘in the unexpected event that the interests of the state cannot be sufficiently safeguarded in the negotiations with private investors.’

Period pain: menstruation related to nine days of lost productivity a year, claim researchers

DutchNews, July 5, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos

Researchers at Radboudumc claim that women effectively lose almost nine days of productivity each year due to the effects of their periods. 

The research, published in the online journal BMJ Open, is based on self-reporting from 32,748 women responding to a survey through social media. 

Most of the women, aged 15 to 45, said their periods lasted for five days, about a third had seen a GP due to the level of symptoms and almost 15% had consulted a gynaecologist. 

One in seven said they took leave from school or work during their periods, and the average number of sick days was one a year. The women reported lower productivity on more than 23 days a year ‘which results in an annual loss of productivity of 9 days per woman per year,’ the study claimed. 

Some of this productivity loss, the researchers hypothesised, might be because women are under pressure to carry on working rather than taking necessary time off. 

They added, however, that this ‘observational’ study could have been influenced by the manner of finding participants as ‘women who experience symptoms may be more inclined to participate in such a study’ and their responses were also not objectively assessed. 

But the team, headed by Mark Schoep, warned that openness was key, adding that ‘discussions about menstruation-related symptoms may still be rather taboo.’