HEADLINES

• Smoke alarms not thought to work in home hit by fatal fire
• Scotland: David Cassells jailed for illegal cigarette imports
• BBC3: Misbehaving Mums to Be
• WHO warns anti-smoking campaigners not to become too close to drug firms
• USA: Suit against big tobacco in St. Louis nearing end
• Experimental Treatment For COPD In Development

• Smoke alarms not thought to work in home hit by fatal fire

  The smoke alarms in a Somercotes home where a woman died in a blaze are not thought to have been working.

  Investigators confirmed there was "no evidence to show" the alarms were in operation at the Queen Street property.

  They believe the blaze was started by "smoking materials" such as cigarettes.

  Firefighters from Alfreton and Ripley were called out to tackle the blaze, which started on the first floor of the property shortly before 4pm on Monday.

  The body was found in the burned-out bedroom of the terraced house and pronounced dead at the scene.

  Source: This is Derbyshire - 14 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/ezFbZK

• Scotland: David Cassells jailed for illegal cigarette imports

  David Cassells, 52, a Glasgow businessman who was caught with 550,000 illegally imported cigarettes has been jailed for a year.

  He had also admitted evading excise duty and VAT on the Mayfair cigarettes to the value of £102,718.

  The court was told that on 16 June 2006, 100,000 Mayfair Kingsize cigarettes were found in the back of Cassell's van, 20,000 were found in a car and 430,000 were discovered at a lock-up unit.

  Subsequent investigations revealed the cigarettes were made for the Polish domestic market and there was no paperwork to show how they had come into Scotland.

  Source: BBC News - 14 April 2011
  Link: http://bbc.in/h5wD4q

• BBC3: Misbehaving Mums to Be

  Last night saw the broadcasting of the first episode of Misbehaving Mums to Be. The BBC3 six-part series follows a team of midwives as they take pregnant women who binge drink, chain smoke and overeat and help them get back into shape before they give birth.

  The programme is available on iPlayer. 

  Reviews of the show: 

  - Last Night's TV: Misbehaving Mums to Be/BBC3 - The Independent

  - Misbehaving Mums To Be was frustrating and missed a key chapter - Metro

  Source: BBC - 14 April 2011
  Link: http://bbc.in/gfxown

• WHO warns anti-smoking campaigners not to become too close to drug firms

  The World Health Organization has warned health professionals working in tobacco control not to become too closely involved with drug companies that produce smoking cessation products.

  Armando Peruga, programme manager of WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative, advised health professionals “to be independent and guided by scientific evidence.”

  “We have to keep a distance from the tobacco industry, but we also have to maintain some distance from any other industry that can have a commercial interest in this issue,” he said.

  Access to the full article requires subsciption.

  Source: BMJ - 14 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/fVN5DE

• USA: Suit against big tobacco in St. Louis nearing end

  A trial in which more than two dozen health care providers went after big tobacco companies for losses treating smokers was expected to last at least six months but reached closing arguments Wednesday in less than half that time.

  It appeared that time was saved when the defence rested its case after presenting just three witnesses and playing parts of video depositions.

  The nationally watched suit, filed in 1998 as the City of St. Louis v. American Tobacco, overcame legal challenges that kept about 160 similar cases around the country from reaching trial.

  Twenty-nine plaintiffs representing 37 health institutions, mainly local and regional operations across Missouri, are asking for more than $455 million in costs, plus punitive damages, from six tobacco companies.

  Source: STLToday - 14 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/gR34Rq

• Experimental Treatment For COPD In Development

  Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed a non-steroid based strategy for improving the lung's innate immune defence and decreasing inflammation that can be a problem for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

  COPD is major public health problem for both the developed and the developing world. Characterized by chronic bronchitis and emphysema, COPD is the third leading cause of death in the US. COPD affects 24 million Americans and 210 million worldwide. Current treatments are largely symptomatic and supportive, but do not reverse the underlying biological defect in the lung.
   

  Source: Medilexicon - 14 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/f4aGTX