Gareth Iacobucci

Regulations for handling “vexatious” patients must be toughened to protect GPs and their staff against the growing threat of harassment and abuse, general practice leaders say.The UK conference of local medical committees (LMCs) in Belfast heard distressing accounts from GPs about doctors, staff, and their families being harassed, stalked, and targeted by patients.Delegates said that current rules on handling patients who engage in repeated harassment, stalking, or abuse did not adequately protect doctors and staff against what was a growing problem.Claire Barnsley, of Wakefield LMC, who proposed the motion, said, “Harassment and stalking are patterned based forms of abuse, not single instance. They escalate over time, and in modern general practice they are increasingly …

New advice to limit the use of nasal decongestant sprays containing xylometazoline and oxymetazoline to a maximum of five days has been issued by the UK’s drug regulator.The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had updated its advice to clinicians and patients in response to recommendations from an expert advisory group saying that prolonged use of these sprays can lead to adverse side effects.Nasal sprays and drops containing xylometazoline and oxymetazoline are used to help clear blocked noses caused by colds, flu, and allergies. The …

The BMJAn outbreak of Ebola virus disease in central Africa has now grown to almost 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths, health officials say.The outbreak-caused by the rare Bundibugyo version of the virus, which has no approved vaccines or treatments-first emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) before spreading to neighbouring Uganda.Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO), which has declared the situation a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC),1 say that they are concerned at how quickly the outbreak is spreading.Speaking at the World Health Assembly in Geneva,2 WHO's director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said, “This is the first time a director general has declared a PHEIC before convening an emergency committee. I did not do this lightly. I'm deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic.”At a press briefing on 20 May WHO said that 51 cases of Ebola had been confirmed in the DRC's northeastern province of Ituri, considered …

Single sex spaces in the NHS, such as staff changing rooms and toilets, must be divided on the basis of biological sex, the government has confirmed.1The long awaited guidance follows the Supreme Court ruling last April that the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 is based on “biological sex,” regardless of whether or not a trans person holds a gender recognition certificate.2The draft code of practice on how to apply the judgment-drawn up by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)-was shared with the government last year but has now finally been approved by ministers. It states that a trans woman should not use female only toilets or changing rooms or other single sex spaces such as some hospital wards, domestic abuse refuges, or gyms and that a trans man should not use male only single …

A much hyped blood test promising early detection of over 50 types of cancer has failed to meet its main objective in a landmark clinical trial, results have confirmed.Data from the NHS trial of the Galleri test, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago, confirmed it failed to meet a key trial endpoint of a significant reduction in stage III-IV cases.1The results, reported by The BMJ earlier this year,2 cast further doubt on NHS England's plans to invest heavily in the tests as part of a drive to try to speed up cancer diagnosis.3Galleri's test, which retails for $949 (£700; €800), is one of several multicancer detection blood tests, or “liquid biopsies,” available on the market. It uses sequencing technology to analyse DNA fragments circulating in the blood, also known as cell free DNA (cfDNA).In 2020 Grail, the US company that manufactures the test, announced …

Family doctors are being urged to remove or ignore any non-contractual medicines optimisation software for new prescriptions.The move marks the second phase of the collective action being coordinated by the BMA's General Practitioners Committee for England (GPCE). It followed the rejection of the GP contract for 2026-27 by 98.9% of almost 17 000 BMA GP members in March.1The first phase of collective action last month saw GPCE ask practices to stop voluntary sharing of …

Claims by the UK government that the NHS single patient record (SPR) will lead to 20 000 fewer visits to emergency departments in England and 6000 fewer admissions each year have been criticised.Experts not only questioned the veracity of the figures but said that the sums would barely scratch the surface in reducing the millions of emergency department attendances and admissions in England each year.It comes as the new health and social care secretary, James Murray, refused to rule out the possibility of the controversial US tech giant Palantir running the SPR.The SPR is part of the government's landmark NHS Modernisation Bill, which faced its second reading in parliament on Monday 1 June.1 During the debate MPs grilled Murray on plans to create the …

All black men in England aged 45-74 will be invited to take part in an expanded trial of prostate cancer screening, ministers have announced.The landmark Transform study, currently under way, will receive an additional £20m in funding that will see all eligible black men invited to take part.The move comes less than a week after routine prostate cancer screening was rejected by the UK's National Screening Committee (NSC) despite major pressure from high profile politicians and campaigning groups.1 However, the committee did recommend targeted screening with a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test every two years for men aged 45-61 who have a pathogenic BRCA2 gene variant.The government has now formally accepted this recommendation while adding that it was also expanding the Transform trial in recognition of the higher risk among black men, who are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer. …

A new drug to treat resistant ovarian cancer, and the first to be approved in over two decades, has been approved for patients in the NHS in England.Mirvetuximab soravtansine (marketed as Elahere), developed by AbbVie, is an advanced, targeted treatment that combines a “homing” antibody with a cancer destroying drug.Often described by scientists as a “biological missile” or “trojan horse” therapy, the drug is already available in the US and Europe.It costs £4950 per 100 mg vial at list prices, excluding VAT.1 However, for the health service it is being made available subject to a confidential commercial arrangement between AbbVie and NHS England.In contrast to chemotherapy, it uses a targeted therapy that seeks out a …

It's a fair point. Footballers will shortly be battling it out for the 18 carat solid gold Fifa World Cup trophy across North America, but participants in this slightly more fringe event will be competing for a $100 000 grand prize in late 2026 (https://www.spermracing/).Indeed. Sperm racing describes itself as a “science based competitive sport.” Semen samples from participants representing 128 countries will be …