ASH Daily News for 21 December 2006

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ASH Daily News for 21 December 2006

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ASH Daily News

21 December 2006

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HEADLINES

Smoking mother wins damages over doctor’s advice

BAT lawyers under investigation in Australia

New smoking machine to test Indian cigarettes for health ministry

Update on licencing of Cytos’ NRT drug

FULL TEXT

Smoking mother wins damages over doctor’s advice

A mother who was criticised by a doctor for nipping out for a cigarette moments before her caesarean operation has won more than £44,000 for her 'hurt feelings'.

The heavy smoker claimed that she developed severe post-natal depression after the anaesthetist told her off.

The patient, known only as Mrs G, delayed the operation by leaving the ward in the private clinic to get her nicotine fix.

The anaesthetist, referred to as Dr A, claimed her coughing made it difficult to give her an epidural before surgery.

After the birth he told her: 'You've seen your daughter born, if you give up smoking you might see her get married too.'

The patient, who is in her 20s, complained that the doctor had harassed her and was awarded £44,500 for 'pain and psychological distress'. Her legal fees were also paid for.

She also claimed that the doctor failed to provide proper pre-anaesthetic care but experts ruled it was appropriate.

The compensation claim is just one example listed by the Medical Protection Society in its quarterly casebook to help educate medical staff.

The latest published figures for the amount of money handed over by the NHS in compensation payments showed it was almost £300million for the financial year between 2003 to 2004.

It paid out £335million for the financial year starting in 2002, and £696million for the year before. In 1996-97, it was just £1million.

These figures from the medical sector mirror a growing general trend of compensation cases fought in this country.

Source: Daily Mail, 21 December 2006

Article link: http://tinyurl.com/yx33hc

BAT lawyers under investigation for criminal conduct in Australia

Lawyers acting for British American Tobacco (BAT) in the case against Rolah McCabe are facing claims of criminal conduct.

The Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is investigating former Clayton Utz lawyers Richard Travers and Glenn Eggleton after claims emerged against the ex-senior partners.

The claims followed an internal investigation by the firm's management.

Clayton Utz acted for BAT when it was sued by Mrs McCabe in the Victorian Supreme Court in 2001 over her addiction to smoking and battle with lung cancer.

The cancer led to her death before the case concluded.

BAT's defence was originally struck out on the grounds that it unlawfully destroyed evidence pertaining to the case on the advice of Clayton Utz.

This ruling was later overturned on appeal in December, 2002.

Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls received copies of the allegations against the lawyers in October and said he had referred them to the DPP and the Victorian Legal Service commissioner for investigation.

"It is important that as attorney-general I don't say anything that may prejudice these independent investigations that will now take place," he told reporters.

"There were very serious allegations contained in the documents."

Mr Hulls said he had also passed on the documents to his colleagues in other states where Clayton Utz operates and federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock.

However, a spokesman for Mr Ruddock said it was a state matter and was not an area the Commonwealth DPP would have jurisdiction in.

In a statement, the company said it would co-operate fully with any further investigation.

But it said documents relating to its preliminary internal review were "preliminary opinions based on the first instance judgment that was subsequently overturned on appeal".

Health authorities welcomed the news of the DPP investigation.

The Cancer Council Victoria director David Hill said it was pleasing to see the seriousness of the allegations recognised.

He said he hoped there would be a full investigation into all allegations raised during the case.

Director of Law and Regulation at the VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control, Jonathan Liberman, said evidence uncovered by the McCabe case had left a stain on Victoria's justice system.

"Today's announcement is a good first step in addressing the damage that has been done," he said.

VicHealth chief executive Dr Rob Moodie said the McCabe family would no longer be alone in pursuing the serious allegations surrounding their case.

"We hope that at the end of this process the McCabe family receive the justice they deserve," he said.

The partners at the centre of the claims have since left the legal firm - Richard Travers in August, 2002 and Glenn Eggleton in June, 2005.

Source: The Age, 21 December 2006

Article link: http://tinyurl.com/ygkjsg

New smoking machine to test Indian cigarettes for health ministry

A smoking machine, that will mimic humans puffing cigarettes, will soon spearhead the Indian health ministry's fight against tobacco.

India, with technical know how from World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, is setting up Asia's first state-of-the-art laboratory to test the percentage of nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide in tobacco products. Coming up at the National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad, the lab will test cigarettes, beedis and cigars to verify ingredient information provided by the tobacco industry.

According to Dr S K Dave, director National Institute of Occupational Health, the smoke analysis machine will mimic a human smoking, during which it will collect the smoke and analyse its carcinogenic content. Its puff per minute will tell scientists the volume of carcinogenic substances being inhaled and exhaled.

"The government will finally be able to verify the ingredients in tobacco products and the amount of harmful substances in them," Dave said. Health minister A Ramadoss added,"The Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules, 2006, is making it mandatory for all tobacco manufacturers to mention the percentage of nicotine in their products by May 2007."

"The lab will help us investigate whether the information mentioned on tobacco packs is true." Calling tobacco consumption the biggest cause of mortality and morbidity and its control the single most important intervention needed to reduce disease burden across the world, CDC director Julie L Gerberding told TOI.

"We will tell India how to conduct the tests and maintain the quality of testing." Expressing satisfaction over India's decision to make pictorial warnings mandatory on tobacco packets, Gerberding added, "Our research has shown that graphic images do influence decisions. It does result in reduction of smoking."

Source: Times of India, 21 December 2006

Article link: http://tinyurl.com/yyrr48

Update on licencing of Cytos’ cessation drug

Cytos Biotechnology AG updated today on its ongoing activities with regards to outlicensing its drug in development for the treatment of nicotine addiction.

Dr. Wolfgang Renner, CEO of Cytos Biotechnology, comments: "Our ongoing activities with regards to dose and regimen optimization for CYT002-NicQb move forward as planned. In parallel, our GMP production team is on track with large scale manufacture and development of a market-suitable formulation. The delay is not resulting from any of these activities and given the advanced status of our discussions we remain confident that CYT002-NicQb will be successfully developed together with a large Pharma partner."

Source: Biotech-Intelligence, 21 December 2006

Article link: http://tinyurl.com/y9nmpk

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