All posts tagged: Patient

Neurosurgeon had sex with patient and prescribed her addictive painkillers

Neurosurgeon had sex with patient and prescribed her addictive painkillers

Published by Sam Flores

A leading surgeon has been suspended for having sex with a patient and prescribing her addictive painkillers. Dr Chirag Patel, a consultant neurosurgeon, had operated on the woman to remove the damaged part of a disc in her spine and performed further surgery on her before the pair started a sexual relationship in 2019. Dr Patel, who worked at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, operated on her a third time two years later when he inserted a spinal chord stimulator. An investigation found Dr Patel prescribed the woman an opioid painkiller known as MST until January 2023 along with diazepam, an addictive muscle relaxant, but he did not tell her GP or make a note in her records. The hearing was told he continued with the prescriptions even after she had missed appointments. Dr Patel claimed he was “going through some marital difficulties” when his relationship with the patient began, it was heard. ‘I was afraid’ The doctor said: “When I persisted in telling her that the relationship had to end, Patient A …

Ebola deaths surge 30 percent as Berlin prepares for patient – POLITICO

Ebola deaths surge 30 percent as Berlin prepares for patient – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Measures that specifically exclude foreigners are ineffective, said Jeanne Marrazzo, head of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “Diseases don’t have passports,” she said in a statement. “The fastest path to protecting all countries in the world is to aggressively support outbreak control at the source,” Jean Kaseya, head of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. “Global health security cannot be achieved through borders alone. It is achieved through partnership, trust, science, and rapid investment in preparedness and response capacity,” he added. Meanwhile, the American doctor being transferred to Germany, Peter Stafford, worked for the U.S. missionary organization Serge and treated Ebola patients in Nyankunde Hospital, Ituri. Stafford was one of three doctors treating patients in the region when the outbreak began. The other two doctors — his wife, Rebekah Stafford, and Patrick LaRochelle — have not yet shown any symptoms, according to Serge. The U.S. State Department said Monday it is coordinating “a comprehensive response” to the Ebola outbreak, “working closely with [the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] …

Gene Therapy Causes Patient to Grow Alarming Tumor

Gene Therapy Causes Patient to Grow Alarming Tumor

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Gene therapy — attempting to help a patient by modifying a gene expression in their body, basically — has shown immense promise for treating a growing range of severe illnesses and disabilities, from Huntington’s Disease to congenital deafness. But using a gene-hacked virus to tinker with the genetic code of a living human, which has only started in earnest over the past decade or so, is certain to be risky. Now, the first instance of how the practice can backfire is coming to light. In a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers concluded that a young Hurler syndrome patient who received an adeno-associated virus (AAV) — used to deliver a therapeutic gene to the patient’s DNA — later developed a tumor due to the therapy. The patient’s illness, Hurler syndrome, stemmed from a mutation that thwarted an enzyme in his body, impacting brain development. A bone marrow transplant was unable to resolve the …

Hantavirus ‘zero’ patient named as where couple caught disease revealed | World | News

Hantavirus ‘zero’ patient named as where couple caught disease revealed | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

Patient zero of the hantavirus outbreak has been identified, and the location where he contracted the rat-borne disease has been revealed. A Dutch birdwatcher who visited a landfill site described as the “end of the world” has been identified as patient zero on board the MV Hondius cruise ship. Ornithologist Leo Schilperoord, 70, boarded the MV Hondius with his wife after making a fateful visit to the rubbish tip in Argentina. Leo was the first passenger to lose his life to the virus while on board the vessel. His wife, Mirjam Schilperoord, disembarked the ship with his body but tragically died while attempting to board a flight to the Netherlands from South Africa. The couple, from Haulerwijk, a small village of 3,000 people in the Netherlands, were named in obituaries published in their local monthly village magazine, The Sun reports. Prior to boarding the MV Hondius, Leo and Mirjam had been on a five-month trip across South America. On March 27, they visited a landfill site four miles outside the city of Ushuaia. The rubbish …

Doctor With Terminal Cancer Says These 3 Things Are What Most People Wait Too Long To Do

Doctor With Terminal Cancer Says These 3 Things Are What Most People Wait Too Long To Do

Published by Jenni Sidey

Dr. Kim Nix is a resident physician who was diagnosed with metastatic sarcoma when she was 28 years old. She invites people to see what her life is like, as both a medical resident and a cancer patient, focusing on the practice of gratitude and being present. In a TikTok, Dr. Nix revealed the three most important things she’s done as a cancer patient to get the administrative side of her affairs in order, which she recommends everyone do, even if they’re not sick. Most of us know that we should be doing this; we just keep putting it off. A 2022 survey found that 68% of Americans acknowledged that end-of-life preparations are important, but fewer than half have actually made any moves to start. Dr. Nix’s list is a good place to start. Writing a will is an act of care for both yourself and the people you love. Research shows that only about 32% of adults in the U.S. have written one. Most people don’t get around to it until they’re in their …

Trump is facing an increasingly patient Iran

Trump is facing an increasingly patient Iran

Published by Sam Flores

The president has extended his deadline on coming to a deal with Iran five times now, always accompanied by severe threats. There’s an internal debate at the White House about whether to publicly set another firm deadline only to blow past it, according to a person familiar with the White House discussions. Weeks ago, the president vowed to “obliterate” power plants if Iran did not “fully open” the Strait of Hormuz. Two days later, the president announced a five-day pause on those strikes, citing progress in the diplomatic negotiations. Two days after that, he pushed it back further, and then did so again on April 7. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that only President Trump can set the next deadline on an Iranian proposal to end the war. On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance prepared to travel to Pakistan for a second round of talks after the first session failed, only for the trip to be postponed. Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were summoned to the White House to …

Dementia patient beaten, set on fire and killed in downtown L.A.

Dementia patient beaten, set on fire and killed in downtown L.A.

Published by Sam Flores

A wandering dementia patient died Monday after a homeless man in downtown Los Angeles punched and kicked him in the head, slammed him to the ground and set him on fire, prosecutors said Thursday. Bang Cho, 84, died in a hospital the day after the assault. The suspect, Lavonta Wilder, 40, has been charged with murder. “This case involves an elderly man who was disoriented and living with dementia, conditions that made him particularly vulnerable,” Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “The level of violence alleged here is brutal, callous and extreme.” Cho was downtown after walking off from a convalescent home around 11:55 p.m. on Sunday when he grabbed a bag that Wilder was holding, the district attorney’s office said. Wilder, who is unhoused and weighs 240 pounds, “viciously” punched and kicked Cho’s head and body, lifted him over his shoulder and slammed him to the ground and then set him on fire, the office said. Police detain a man in the death of a dementia patient in downtown …

Tesla tells HW3 owner to ‘be patient’ after 7 years of waiting for FSD

Tesla tells HW3 owner to ‘be patient’ after 7 years of waiting for FSD

Published by skeptic

The Dutch Tesla owner who launched a collective claim against Tesla over FSD on HW3 cars called Tesla to ask about the €6,400 he paid for “Full Self-Driving” in 2019. After 7 years of waiting, Tesla’s answer was to “just be patient.” It’s an almost comically tone-deaf response that perfectly encapsulates Tesla’s approach to the HW3 problem — and it’s only going to fuel the growing legal pressure in Europe. What Tesla told an HW3 owner on the phone Mischa Sigtermans, the Dutch Model 3 owner who launched the HW3 collective claim site we reported on earlier this week, called Tesla today and recorded the entire conversation. He posted the details in a thread on X. Advertisement – scroll for more content Sigtermans paid €6,400 for FSD when he bought one of the first Model 3s in the Netherlands in 2019. Last week, the Dutch vehicle authority RDW granted Tesla type approval for FSD Supervised — the first in the EU. But the approved build only runs on Tesla’s newer AI4 computer. HW3 cars like …

Slowly does it: how to be patient in a world that wants everything right now | Life and style

Slowly does it: how to be patient in a world that wants everything right now | Life and style

Published by Sam Flores

Your kids want to know why their new book (ordered 18 hours ago) is “taking so long” and need you “NOW” because Netflix “isn’t loading” (it “tu-dums” milliseconds later). For parents who had dial-up internet, endless TV adverts and long car journeys soundtracked by Dad’s AM Test cricket, modern kids’ inability to be patient can feel galling. Except, with our Deliveroo habit and boiling-water taps (who has time for a kettle?), we can be just as bad. “Our environment and culture has trained our nervous systems to expect immediacy,” says Anna Mathur, psychotherapist and author of How to Stop Snapping at the People You Love (As Well As the Ones You Don’t). “The issue is our brains are plastic; they adapt to the level of easy dopamine we’ve got at our fingertips.” Our brains are changing, confirms child psychologist Dr Michele McDowell: “A recent study indicated the brain instantly responds to notifications and takes seven seconds to refocus. Consequently, the brain is becoming overstimulated and is increasingly more responsive. Over time, this erodes the brain’s …

From a Sliver of the DSM to the Whole Patient

From a Sliver of the DSM to the Whole Patient

Published by Jenni Sidey

In every branch of medicine, diagnosis is the foundation of effective care. Cardiologists don’t treat “chest pain”; they determine whether it’s coronary artery disease, arrhythmia, or something else entirely. Oncologists don’t treat “fatigue”—they identify tumor type, stage, and molecular drivers before initiating treatment. Psychiatry has an equally sophisticated diagnostic framework. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders outlines a vast range of conditions, reflecting the complexity of human psychology and behavior. And yet, in everyday practice, we often rely on only a small fraction of it. The Narrow Lens We’ve Defaulted to In many outpatient settings today, assessment has become synonymous with a handful of tools; most commonly, the PHQ-9 and GAD-7. These are valuable instruments. They are efficient, validated, and useful for tracking symptoms over time. But they are also limited. They focus primarily on depression and generalized anxiety—two important conditions, but far from the full picture. When these tools become the primary lens through which we understand patients, we risk reducing complex human experiences into a narrow diagnostic frame. And in doing …