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UK Death from Extrinsic Allergic Alveolitis

from UK DAILY MAIL
Warder killed by inhaling fumes from droppings of prisoners' 'pet' pigeons

By Christopher Leake
Last updated at 11:18 PM on 13th August 2011

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Prison Warder Steve Burks died of a lung disease caused by the droppings of inmates' pigeons

A retired prison officer has died after contracting a lung disease from tame pigeons fed by inmates at the jail where he worked.
Steve Burks, 54, was claiming damages from the Prison Service and the Ministry of Justice but died from the disease, caused by inhaling fumes from pigeons’ droppings, before his case was settled.
Now the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) is helping Mr Burks’s widow Lynda pursue her husband’s claim as well as demanding jails bring in new safety procedures.
Mr Burks, from Southampton, was awaiting a lung transplant but died in April from extrinsic allergic alveolitis, commonly known as ‘bird fancier’s lung’.
An inquest ruled this month that the disease was caused by his exposure to pigeon waste during his job.
Two months before his death, Mr Burks – who was forced to retire early on medical grounds from his job at Winchester Prison – described how he had suffered because of ‘an invisible, life-threatening hazard’.

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• Britain has highest lung disease death rate in Europe

Writing in his union’s journal, Mr Burks told how he had to use an oxygen supply, could hardly walk because he was so breathless and was forced to take 12 tablets a day.
Mr Burks, who had never bred or raised pigeons, urged colleagues to wear safety gloves or a mask after claiming his own prison managers had failed to give him proper advice.
He said: ‘My lungs are inflamed and covered in shadows. My oxygen levels are so low that I require oxygen 20 hours a day.
My quality of life is zero. I can’t walk very far without getting breathless. I struggle to get dressed and get in and out of the bath. The stairs are an absolute killer to climb.
‘Don’t let management fob you off saying there is no risk from these flying pests, because clearly there is.’
His widow Lynda said: ‘I am very bitter and angry over what happened. He was suing the Ministry of Justice and he felt so angry and this has completely devastated me.’

Workplace: Mr Burks was a warder at Winchester Prison

Brian Traynor, the POA’s national executive member for health and safety, said: ‘The way the Ministry of Justice treated a life-threatening pigeon disease being suffered by Steve was despicable.
It is very possible other officers have died from the same disease without it being realised. It could be like the asbestos issue. We want action to prevent it happening again.’
Mr Traynor said that because prisoners coaxed pigeons to their cell windows and treated them as pets, they also risked contracting the disease.
He added: ‘Once you have prisons, you have pigeons. We have a major problem in all our establishments.’
He suggested using decoy owls to scare pigeons away or putting spikes on window sills.
Professor Stephen Spiro, deputy chairman of the British Lung Foundation, urged prisoners not to feed pigeons. He said: ‘If they are fed, they will come in numbers.’
He warned that people feeding pigeons in places such as Trafalgar Square are also at risk.
A spokesman at the Ministry of Justice said: ‘We cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings. We take the health and welfare of staff and prisoners very seriously.’



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2025687/Warder-killed-inhaling-fumes-droppings-prisoners-pet-pigeons.html#ixzz1V1NAUMkL

FRANCE: ANTI-BIOTERRORISM RESEARCH against RICIN.

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Inhibition of Retrograde Transport Protects Mice from Lethal Ricin Challenge

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Cell, Volume 141, Issue 2, 231-242, 16 April 2010
Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
10.1016/j.cell.2010.01.043

Referred to by: Ricin Toxin Hits a Retrograde Roadblock

Authors

Bahne Stechmann, Siau-Kun Bai, Emilie Gobbo, Roman Lopez, Goulven Merer, Suzy Pinchard, Laetitia Panigai, Danièle Tenza, Graça Raposo, Bruno Beaumelle, Didier Sauvaire, Daniel Gillet, Ludger Johannes, Julien BarbierSee Affiliations

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Traffic, Signaling, and Delivery Laboratory, Centre de Recherche, Institut Curie, 26 rue d'Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France Structure and Membrane Compartments Laboratory, Centre de Recherche, Institut Curie, 26 rue d'Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France Cell and Tissue Imaging Facility (Infrastructures en Biologie Sante et Agronomie), Centre de Recherche, Institut Curie, 26 rue d'Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France Unité Mixte de Recherche 144, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France Laboratoire de Toxinologie Moleculaire et Biotechnologies, Service d'Ingenierie Moleculaire des Proteines, Institut de Biologie et de Technologies de Saclay, Direction des Sciences du Vivant, Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette, France Laboratoire de Chimie Bioorganique, Service de Chimie Bio-organique et de Marquage, Institut de Biologie et de Technologies de Saclay, Direction des Sciences du Vivant, Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette, France Unite Controles de Bioactivite et Radioanalyse, French Health Products Safety Agency (Afssaps French Official Medicines Control Laboratory), Direction des Laboratoires et des Controles, 635 rue de la Garenne, 34740 Vendargues, France Centre d'etudes d'agents Pathogenes et Biotechnologies pour la Sante, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5236, Case 100, Université Montpellier 2, 34095 Montpellier, France Corresponding author

• Highlights
• Identification of two toxin inhibitors by cell-based high-throughput screening
• Cells are protected against the plant toxin ricin and bacterial Shiga-like toxins
• Inhibitors selectively block toxin trafficking at endosome-TGN interface
• One compound protects mice from lethal nasal challenge with ricin

Summary

Bacterial Shiga-like toxins are virulence factors that constitute a significant public health threat worldwide, and the plant toxin ricin is a potential bioterror weapon. To gain access to their cytosolic target, ribosomal RNA, these toxins follow the retrograde transport route from the plasma membrane to the endoplasmic reticulum, via endosomes and the Golgi apparatus. Here, we used high-throughput screening to identify small molecule inhibitors that protect cells from ricin and Shiga-like toxins. We identified two compounds that selectively block retrograde toxin trafficking at the early endosome-TGN interface, without affecting compartment morphology, endogenous retrograde cargos, or other trafficking steps, demonstrating an unexpected degree of selectivity and lack of toxicity. In mice, one compound clearly protects from lethal nasal exposure to ricin. Our work discovers the first small molecule that shows efficacy against ricin in animal experiments and identifies the retrograde route as a potential therapeutic target.

LONDON ANARCHY. DINERS in 2-star MICHELIN Restaurant robbed.

(Sadly London, one of the World's centres of post-graduate medicine is now a danger zone.)

from today's DAILY MAIL

....Alas, our home invasion (NOTTING HILL GATE) was just the start of it – about 20 youths steamed into the nearby Ledbury restaurant later that evening and robbed customers; shop windows in Portobello Road were smashed; a man was pulled off his scooter and assaulted, and police cars were attacked.

Targeting the wealthy: Staff stand outside the upmarket Ledbury restaurant in Notting Hill, where rioters broke in and attacked diners but where chased off by staff

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2025097/London-riots-Notting-Hill-mother-day-mob-came-crashing-in.html#ixzz1UoWmuZvI

http://www.theledbury.com/

Private Hospitals no longer safe,.

WANTED HAEMATOPATHOLOGIST Toronto St.Michael's Hosp

Haematopathologist wanted by Torontio St.Michael's Teaching Hospital. Contact Pathologist Dr.Serge JOTHY MD (Univ.Bordeau 1968) FRCPC( Anat.Path 1979) Trained in Path at Kingston Queen's Univ.(1975-1978). Chief of Lab.Med.

jothys@smh.ca
Fx: 416 864-5648

St.Michael Hosp is a Catholic hospital AFFILIATED with Univ. Toronto.

St.Mike's is in the Center of Toronto. Close to top businesses, hotels and theatres. The postal Bond St. adress is confusing. Actually near corner of YONGE and QUEEN.

Good quick road`transport up Mt Pleasant to the elegant ROSEDALE residential area. Similar to UK London Hampstead . Good private schools in  Central Toronto for both Boys (UCC & Royal St.George) & Girls ( Branksome Hall & Bishop Strachan).

Imperative to retain an Ontario Lawyer when negotiating a hospital contract. AIRD & BERLIS LLP has an office in France. Founder J. Black AIRD QC was 23rd Lt.Governor of Ontario.

UK DAILY MAIL: SHORTAGE of EXPERIENCED DOCTORS.

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Grandmother dies after locum doctor who had received no training in Britain failed to detect heart condition

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:24 PM on 9th August 2011

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A grandmother died after being sent home by a foreign locum doctor who had not had any NHS training.
Irene Mitchell, 59, had a serious heart condition which was not diagnosed by locum Ali Mehri.
She arrived at hospital suffering from what her family believe was a heart attack and in need of urgent attention.

Irene Mitchell: The 59-year-old died after being sent home by locum Dr Ali Mehri

But Dr Mehri misread the results of an electrocardiogram and sent her home from Doncaster Royal Infirmary without treatment.
After her condition deteriorated, Mrs Mitchell returned to hospital three days later.
It took two more days for her to be transferred to the coronary care unit for surgery at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield.
But Mrs Mitchell died on Christmas Day 2009, before the surgery could be performed.

 

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A narrative verdict was recorded by Doncaster coroner Nicola Mundy at an inquest. Ms Mundy said failure to act upon the ECG and administer urgent treatment had contributed towards Mrs Mitchell's death.
The coroner heard existing staff had raised questions about Dr Mehri's clinical methods and the standard and speed of his work. Despite these concerns, he was one of the most senior doctors in the accident and emergency department.
Dr Mehri had received no induction or training when he arrived at the trust, having previously worked in Qatar. He was recruited via an agency just three weeks before Mrs Mitchell's death.

Doncaster Royal Infirmary: Mrs Mitchell was sent home from this hospital despite her heart condition

Health bosses deny that Mrs Mitchell, manager of a bookmakers in Doncaster, suffered a heart attack, but accept she had serious heart problems.
Mrs Mitchell's daughter Sadie Daines said she was concerned an agency doctor without NHS training had been in charge.
She said: 'Our anger is never going to go away. We are still angry that this was allowed to happen. This man was the senior person that day and she was sent home.
'We want people to challenge what doctors say. We asked for her not to be sent home, but that is what happened.'
The family's lawyer said Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had recognised failures involved in Mrs Mitchell's case and apologised to the family.
She said: 'The failure to read the results of Irene's ECG test in this case led to a lengthy delay in diagnosis and by the time her cardiac problems were eventually recognised the opportunity to give her drug treatment, which may have saved her life, had been missed.
'Although we welcome the changes the Trust has made at Doncaster Royal Infirmary since Irene's death, and the apology made to the family, the Mitchells want assurances that lessons learnt will be shared throughout the NHS to prevent any other family from suffering.'
The NHS trust recognised that mistakes had been made, but defended its hiring of Dr Mehri.
A statement from the trust said: 'The inquest into Mrs Mitchell's death found she had died from the effects of coronary artery atheroma.
'But the coroner also indicated that, had the abnormal ECG on December 17 2009 been acted upon, Mrs Mitchell's life would have been prolonged and she would on balance not have died when she did. We have accepted that verdict and have apologised to the family.
'Dr Ali Mehri started work at DRI on November 23, 2009, coming from a specialist agency. Excellent references were received that put him well within the capabilities of a staff grade role, and able to work without direct supervision.
'Events surrounding this case were investigated in line with NHS Clinical Governance arrangements. The conclusions were shared with the family and an apology from the Trust was given.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2024228/Irene-Mitchell-dies-locum-Dr-Ali-Mehri-failed-detect-heart-condition.html#ixzz1UdnN8SW7

UK DAILY MAIL: Death from failed DVT diagnosis.. $450,000 awarded.

Father at 'medium risk' of developing blood clot dies after hospital fails to call him back for scan

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:58 PM on 8th August 2011

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A father-of-three deemed at 'medium risk' of developing a dangerous blood clot died after he was sent home from hospital.
Mark Bonehill visited Hull Royal Infirmary's accident and emergency department complaining of pain in his calf.
But doctors sent him home and failed to call him back for a further scan - despite him being assessed as being at 'medium risk' of developing a deadly clot.

He was my best friend: Karen Bonehill and her children were awarded £300,000 after her husband Mark died from a blood clot

The 42-year-old, who was an area manager for Autoglass, died less than three weeks' later after the clot in his leg travelled to his lung.
His family have now been awarded £300,000 compensation after Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust admitted negligence.
Mr Bonehill's widow Karen, 46, said: 'What is so hard to deal with is the fact his death was entirely avoidable.
'The compensation won't bring Mark back. Mark has an 18-week-old grandchild he's never met.
'I had been with him since I was 19. He wasn't just my husband he was my best friend.'
Mark, from Hull, became worried about the pain in his leg and went to Hull Royal Infirmary in September 2008.

More...

• Pensioner with OBE dies after doctors miss her broken NECK and send her home without an X-ray

A scan showed no sign of a clot at that stage. But the pain was the early signs of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a serious condition characterised by blood clots in the deep veins of the legs.
A re-scan could have detected the clot that later formed in his leg, which then dislodged and travelled to the lungs, known as a pulmonary embolism.
Karen, who has battled breast cancer since losing her husband, said Mark was not warned about the symptoms of DVT.
She said: 'We were not given a leaflet or given advice about what to look out for.
'I just wanted to know lessons had been learned and this won't happen to another family.'
Mrs Bonehill said her children, Nicholas, now 22, Gareth, 21, and Abigail, 16, have been left heartbroken by their father's death.
She said: 'Abigail was just 13 when he died. She was a proper daddy's girl.
'She still bursts out crying now because she misses him so much.'
After her husband's death, Mrs Bonehill wrote to the hospital to ask whether any changes would be made to its policy regarding DVT.
Mrs Bonehill says she has never received a response to her question, although the trust insists it did contact the family.
Phil Morley, chief executive for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: 'I know my predecessor wrote to Mrs Bonehill and I would reiterate this apology and our sincere condolences.
'Since this case occurred in 2008 the trust has implemented the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) recommendations across the organisation and monitors that all in-patients have undergone an assessment as part of the admission process.
'A full education programme is being launched across the organisation to ensure all clinical staff are fully aware of the Nice guidance and to ensure we are able to respond rapidly to introduce new treatments and practice.'
Nick Gray, of the Hull branch of Williamsons Solicitors, which dealt with Mrs Bonehill's case, said: 'This is a good settlement. However, Mrs Bonehill is relatively young.
'If you think of it in terms of what Mr Bonehill would have brought into the family in earnings and the pension he would have received, the settlement is about £10,000 a year.'

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2023708/NHS-negligence-case-Father-medium-risk-developing-blood-clot-dies-hospital-fails-scan.html#ixzz1URRalBrm