blogs created to prevent or detect a crime http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/ukpga_19970040_en_1

This blog is brougt to you consistent with subsection 3 of the Protection from Harassment Act - i.e. blogs created to prevent or detect a crime http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/ukpga_19970040_en_1



Tuesday, 28 August 2012

Downpatrick psychiatric drug trial GP Dr Hugh McGoldrick uses Lockerbie Bomb solicitors Kevin R Winters

see -  click link




" ....we have also developed a niche for criminal defence forensic analysis, and have provided advice and assistance to the Scottish lawyers of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Libyan convicted for involvement in the Lockerbie Bombings "









source  - http://bobfiddaman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/kevin-r-winters-co-solicitors-belfast.html

see also - http://kevinrwinters.com/home


other high profile cases inc £26.5 million robbery of the Northern Bank
http://kevinrwinters.com/cases?page=1

Kevin R Winters & Co - Solicitors Belfast & Downpatrick

Kevin R Winters & Co is one of Ireland’s leading law practices. Established in 2001, we have offices in Belfast City Centre and Downpatrick and have been instructed in some of the most significant and high profile cases in this jurisdiction. To read more on some of these cases please click here.




Providing expert advice to our clients throughout Ireland, we specialise in the areas of Advocacy, Criminal Law, Human Rights, Judicial Review, Prison Law and Civil Litigation. In addition to this we also offer a 24hr call out service providing round the clock attendance in police stations.


In recent years, we have also developed a niche for criminal defence forensic analysis, and have provided advice and assistance to the Scottish lawyers of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Libyan convicted for involvement in the Lockerbie Bombings, particularly in relation to the integrity of exhibit management and continuity, and also to the English lawyers of the family of Madeleine McCann, by whom we were approached to provide our opinion with regards to the validity of the now condemned forensic science of Low Copy Number DNA.

Indeed, we have been cited by the world renowned guide to the legal profession, Chambers and Partners which lists the top lawyers in 175 countries, with independent rankings and editorial commentary. We are ranked in their top band, Band 1 for our expertise in public law, and criminal practice. The key to the success of their legal directories and the validity of their awards is the in-depth, unbiased research conducted by their team of highly qualified and experienced researchers. On the basis of this research, they identify the world's top lawyers.



http://kevinrwinters.com/

Setting new standards in best practice we offer the highest quality of service and advice to our clients.

Saturday, 25 August 2012

SEROXAT litigation latest ....see FIDDAMAN blog link SeroxatUSERgroup is a litigants group

 The Comission met with Counsel, Dr. Sarah-Jane Richards and prospective  solicitors in July 2012 to discuss the practical issues of continuing the litigation.  Any litigant who has not discontinued his/her claim should contact Janice at the  Seroxat User Group (janice@seroxatusergroup.org.uk) for further information.  For further information please contact Dr. Sarah-Jane Richards at  RichardsSJ@CapitalResearchAssociates.co.uk or   telephone +44 (0)2920 786577


http://capitalresearchassociates.co.uk/seroxat.html

Friday, 24 August 2012

ATOS in the dock yet again ...........see FIDDAMAN blog for details

Sickness benefit contractor Atos Healthcare to review lettersBy Andrew Fagg




BBC News





Atos Healthcare carries out fitness-to-work tests Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

Fitness-to-work contract 'flawed'

Ministers admit benefits backlog

Incapacity benefit change warning

The government contractor Atos Healthcare has said it will review all the correspondence it sends to people claiming sickness benefits.



The announcement follows a "mistaken comment" in a letter - seen by BBC News - to a claimant with depression.



Atos incorrectly told the claimant that assessors were not required to be specifically trained in mental health.



The private firm said it would ensure that its letters were "clear and easy to understand" in future.



Atos carried out nearly three quarters of a million face-to-face assessments last year on people claiming the new sickness benefit, Employment and Support Allowance.



'Panic attack'



One of the claimants, Claire Whitwell, from Stockton on Tees, prompted Atos's review.



Ms Whitwell has social anxiety disorder and depression, but was declared fit to work following a medical assessment last year. The decision was later overturned by an appeals tribunal.



Continue reading the main story



Start Quote

The person who did my last two medicals was stated as a registered nurse. She clearly didn't have any mental health training”

End Quote

Claire Whitwell

Sickness benefit claimant

In June, she was asked to attend another assessment to see whether her condition had changed.



Ms Whitwell said she had a panic attack, in part because she said the assessor did not know anything about depression, and complained to Atos over the incident earlier this month.



In the reply on 13 August, seen by BBC News, an Atos customer relations manager explained there was no requirement for assessors to be specifically trained in mental health.



However, an Atos spokeswoman has now said this comment was "mistaken", insisting that all assessors do have specific mental health training.



"We have improved the way we assess those with fluctuating and mental health conditions," the spokeswoman said.



"All our doctors, nurses and physiotherapists have received specific training in mental health and there are now mental function champions in place across our centres to offer.



'No training'



But Ms Whitwell said Atos had made a terrible mistake and was now trying desperately to backtrack.



"The person who did my last two medicals was stated as a registered nurse. She clearly didn't have any mental health training," she said.



"The [Department for Work and Pensions] may as well have got a decision from a dentist."



Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said her case raised the broader issue of how people with mental illnesses are assessed.



He said: "Over a third of people apply for Employment and Support Allowance because they have mental health problems. We know that many are wrongly declared fit for work.



"We want the government to make sure that the health professionals assessing people with mental health problems have an appropriate level of mental health expertise."



In statements, the Department for Work and Pensions and Atos said they were working with disability groups to improve the medical tests, known as the Work Capability Assessment, and had recruited 60 "mental function champions" to give advice to the doctors and nurses carrying out the tests

Parents sue over woman's death at Scientology Narconon facility - FIDDAMAN backers Kill

McALESTER - The parents of a 21-year-old Texas woman who died this spring after spending two days at an Oklahoma rehab facility rooted in Scientology filed a lawsuit against the organization Thursday, court records show.




Hillary Holten of Carrolton, Texas, died April 11 after entering Narconon Arrowhead, a nonmedical drug-detoxification facility on Lake Eufaula near McAlester.



Holten is one of three Narconon Arrowhead patrons to die since October. As a result of those deaths, the facility is being investigated by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Pittsburg County Sheriff's Office and the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.



Other recent deaths at the facility include those of Stacy Murphy, 20, of Owasso on July 19 and of Gabriel Graves, 32, of Claremore on Oct. 26.



The lawsuit involving Holten is the first and only lawsuit filed since the investigation began, records show.



The suit, which lists Holten's parents, Matthew and Suzan Holten, as plaintiffs, alleges negligence by the organization for accepting Holten into their program given Holten's medical condition.



Holten's autopsy report has not yet been released by the state Medical Examiner's Office, the Holtens' attorney, Michael Atkinson, said.



"Plaintiffs contend that the agents, servants and employees of Narconon Arrowhead lacked sufficient training to properly evaluate and understand the serious nature of Hillary's condition," the lawsuit alleges.



Listed as defendants are Narconon of Oklahoma, Narconon International and the Association for Better Living and Education International.



According to the lawsuit, Holten had congenital adrenal hyperplasia and required daily medication.



Also, Holten tested positive for drugs while she was a patient in a Texas hospital about nine days before going to Narconon, the lawsuit says.



While at the hospital, she was in intensive care and on a ventilator, the lawsuit says.



Personnel at Narconon assured Holten's parents that the facility had adequate staff, including registered nurses and a medical director, to manage the condition, the lawsuit alleges.



The U.S. National Library of Medicine says people with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, an adrenal gland disorder, "usually have good health" when treated.





Original Print Headline: Parents sue over woman's death at Narconon facility



Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20120824_11_A17_McALES753313

Tuesday, 21 August 2012

citalopram lundbeck - Shane Clancy was in a "Unaldurated seething jealous rage"


anne hannigan

April 2, 2012 at 11:23 am


as one who knew shane clancy, he did have an obsession with jen hannigan, for 5 months before the outrage he made her life unbearable but jen tried to keep things quiet for his sake, she knew he was hurting badly and was jealous of seb. On that evening he was with a friend of sebs who he also knew, and they unfortunately all ended up together, he waited around all evening even though he didint drink and his friend had left the pub, insisted on driving him home, was invited in for tea and then when he asked for a knife to fix his shoe was asked to leave by seb, only to return with a set of knives and manipulate his way in by texting jen and saying he was dying and to get seb to help, seb opened his door and was stabbed throught the heart. Unaldurated seething jealous rage. this is a short synopsis of a night that has destroyed many peoples lives



source - http://www.universitytimes.ie/?p=351

Drs Hannah and McGoldrick Pound Lane break-in - back-up disks being kept at the same location as the original information

Access Denied To Stolen GP Records




There is little chance of personal medical records stolen in Co Down over Christmas being read by the thieves.

http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=106324

The break-in happened at the surgery of Drs Hannah and McGoldrick at Pound Lane, Downpatrick, over the Christmas period, but the details of 5,400 patients on two computer hard disk drives and several DVDs were securely encrypted.

The news has only today been revealed with the South Health and Social Care Board insisting that security measures on the disks and the fact the DVDs were encrypted, made it unlikely the files could be accessed.

The police are investigating the theft of the records, and have also been probing an earlier blaze at the surgery, on 9 November, when thousands of patient files at the same practice were damaged in a fire.

It has also emerged that there was another fire at the surgery just over a week later.

SDLP Health spokesperson Conall McDevitt said the Minister for Health Michael McGimpsey should order a review of data security in GP surgeries following the theft of the patient records

"Investigation of this incident should not be left at the level of the Board. People across the north are entitled to reassurance about security features to prevent unauthorized access.

"But there is also the issue of back-up disks being kept at the same location as the original information. It is very serious that the Board has been unable to reconstruct important patient information from other sources," he said.

"I understand there have been incidents of arson at other practices in the area, with the potential for total loss of information.


"The Minister should review data security systems for all GP surgeries and other holders of medical information both from the point of view of potential unauthorized access and sensible back-up and data recovery at separate locations," he concluded.



(BMcC/GK)

Fire at Downpatrick health centre - Dr Hugh McGoldrick & others

Fire at Downpatrick health centre




There has been a second fire at a health centre in Downpatrick

Police are investigating a second fire at a health centre in Downpatrick.



Substantial damage was caused to the premises at Pound Lane when it was first set alight on Sunday 9 November.



Damage was caused to the store room in the latest fire that was reported at 1550 GMT on Tuesday by a member of staff.



Police said the fire on 9 November had been started deliberately. The latest fire has been brought under control by the Fire and Rescue Service.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7736600.stm

Sunday, 19 August 2012

MMR class action ...new lawyers sue previous lawyers ...see FIDDAMAN blog


Panel rules MMR jab made girl deaf - but not enough for payout

By Mail On Sunday Reporter

PUBLISHED: 23:09, 18 August 2012
UPDATED: 23:09, 18 August 2012

Comments (93) Share



..

Loss of hearing: Katie Stephen was left deaf by an MMR jab

A woman has won her fight to prove she was left deaf by the MMR jab – only the second time it has been linked to disability.



But a medical assessment panel ruled Katie Stephen, 21, will not receive compensation because she is not considered disabled enough.



Katie was given the measles, mumps and rubella jab in 1991 when she was 15 months old.



But she developed a fever and irreparable damage to the nerve between her brain and ear, and is deaf on her left side.



Officials at the Vaccine Damage Payment Unit accepted the vaccine was the likely cause of her hearing problems.



But the body, run by the Department for Work and Pensions, ruled out compensation as she was only ‘20 per cent disabled’.



Katie, of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, said: ‘If my disability can be cast aside so easily, why have I suffered so many difficulties in my life as a consequence? This has put me in a negative place.’



Injection: Katie had the measles, mumps and rubella jab when she was just 15-months-old

She was part of a group action. However, her case was never heard because the lawyers only pursued cases involving children with autism.

An alleged link with the condition has since been discredited.



The family is now involved in a new group action being brought by Blacks Solicitors, pursuing their ex-lawyers for professional negligence.



A spokesman for the DWP would not comment on the case.





Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2190391/Panel-rules-MMR-jab-girl-deaf--payout.html#ixzz241OIAUIJ

Friday, 17 August 2012

Alasdair McDonnell MP - director Medevol

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=11402


THE BLIND LEADING THE SICK


SDLP leader, and Sir Les Patterson look-a-like Dr Alasdair McDonnell

Colette Donaghy Chief Operating Officer at Medevol - Linkedin - Pfizer, Upjohn, Pharmica

Chief Operating Officer Medevol Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Research industry


http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/colette-donaghy/15/255/76b?trk=pub-pbmap

July 2009 – Present (3 years 2 months)



Clinical Programme Manager Pfizer Public Company; 10,001+ employees; PFE; Pharmaceuticals industry



September 2004 – June 2009 (4 years 10 months)



Principal Clinical Research Site Manager Pfizer Public Company; 10,001+ employees; PFE; Pharmaceuticals industry



September 2003 – September 2004 (1 year 1 month)



Clinical Team Leader Pharmacia

January 1996 – August 2003 (7 years 8 months)



Senior Clinical Research Associate Upjohn Ltd

September 1992 – January 1996 (3 years 5 months)



Dr Hugh McGoldrick ran trials for MEDEVOL NI040375 - Current directors and secretaries

Current directors and secretaries

http://companycheck.co.uk/company/NI040375



Current Directors Appointed Total Appointments Current Historical

Dr Mark John James Gormley 02-07-2001 1 1 0

Mr Gerry Moore 11-04-2008 6 3 3

Dr James Gray Riddell 20-01-2004 4 2 2

Dr Alasdair Dr McDonnell 05-10-2001 3 2 1

Mr Stephen Philip Prenter 13-06-2002 7 5 2

Mr Brendan Mullan 08-03-2001 8 6 2



Current Secretaries Appointed Total Appointments Current Historical

Mr Eric James Thompson 07-11-2008

Dr McGoldrick Downpatrick - Patient files damaged in a fire

Patient files damaged in a fire




The fire at the surgery was discovered on Sunday evening

Thousands of patient files have been damaged in a fire at a County Down doctor's surgery.



The fire started on Sunday evening at Pound Lane in Downpatrick.



It is estimated that up to 6,000 files may have been damaged. The health trust said patients' details were kept on computer and regularly backed-up.



"We're trying to let clients know what is happening and when we can get services up and running to them again," said GP Hugh McGoldrick.

Police forensic teams have searched to try to establish the cause of the fire.



Local photographer Gerard Smyth, who witnessed the blaze, said the building was still standing but the interior was badly damaged.



"Quite a lot of doctors and other staff were at the scene - one of their main concerns was that patients' records may have been lost in the fire," he said.



The surgery is operating an emergency service at nearby premises. It is hoped the surgery will be fully functional on alternative premises shortly.



Dr McGoldrick Downpatrick - 5,400 medical files stolen in Downpatrick break-in

5,400 medical files stolen in Downpatrick break-in




The surgery was damaged by two fires last November





Medical records of 5,400 patients have been stolen from a doctors' surgery in Downpatrick.



The break-in happened at the surgery of Drs Hannah and McGoldrick at Pound Lane over the Christmas period.



They were in two computer hard disk drives and several DVDs containing back-up copies of the records.



The Health and Social Care Board said security measures on the disks and the fact the DVDs were encrypted, made it unlikely the files could be accessed.



The practice and the board have been working since the break-in to establish whether the stolen information could be retrieved or recovered from other sources. However, they said this has not proved possible.



The practice contacted patients by letter, to advise them of the steps being taken and how they can help in having their records restored as soon as possible.



It has also been working with other health care providers in the Downpatrick area, including pharmacists, to ensure that prescriptions continue to be dispensed as normal.



Police are investigating the theft of the records.



On 9 November last year, thousands of patient files at the same practice were damaged in a fire.



There was another fire at the surgery just over a week later



Wednesday, 15 August 2012

Dr Jon Jureidini, child psychiatrist describes FIDDAMAN book as "comic and tragic" - but not scientific

The Foreword is by Dr Jon Jureidini, child psychiatrist and clinical Professor, Discipline of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, South Australia.


source - http://fiddaman.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/seroxatpaxil-book-launched.html



I owe Jon a great debt as it was he who set up the whole editing process [from Kindle version to paperback]



Here's his foreword.



Bob Fiddaman’s account of his interaction with the Medicines and Health Care Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) over the antidepressant Seroxat (and of his blogging of that interaction) is comic and tragic in equal measures.



Charles Medawar, whose Antidepressant Web was godparent to Fiddaman’s blog, spoke of a ‘conspiracy of goodwill’ arising out of the wish of all parties (doctors, funders, manufacturers and users) that antidepressants be safe and effective. Fiddaman shows us that there is also ‘bad will’ in this case, identifying cynical and exploitative behaviour by those who we should be able to trust.



Around half of serious adverse affects of drugs are not identified until the medication has been used for a considerable time. This delay is understandable because research to bring a drug onto the market only involves hundreds or thousands of patients, whereas a successfully marketed drug will be taken by millions. Therefore rarer adverse effects sometimes do not become apparent for several years after a medication becomes widely available. By this time many may have been adversely affected by the drug without they or their doctors recognising that it is harmful. And when a drug is very widely prescribed (millions were taking Seroxat), every delay of a day in discovering harms means that thousands more people will suffer. Therefore pharmacovigilance (the detection and analysis of adverse effects of medications once they come into widespread use) has to be central to drug development and research if we are to reduce harm from medication.



But in spite of the fact that pharmaceutical companies have an obligation to monitor adverse effects of their drugs, they invest only a trivial sum in pharmacovigilance. Their priority is the much more profitable enterprise of developing and especially marketing new drugs, where they make huge investment. This imbalance is understandable (though not acceptable) in the light of their need to turn a profit, and reflects the lack of any significant disciplining of their activities by regulatory bodies.



One person’s reported experience with a drug proves little but Fiddaman shows us what we can learn when we collect together the experience of many users. Patients’ collective experiences with their drugs constitute a gold mine of information for the health system and pharmaceutical industry, but we doctors and scientist make barely any effort to collect the data and make sense of it. It is left to small heroes like Bob Fiddaman to irritate the system. A more rigorous and informative examination of patients’ experiences with drugs could prevent countless crippling adverse events. If we do ever achieve a truly effective system of pharmacovigilance, then Bob Fiddaman’s blog will have played an important part in this outcome.

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Psychiatric drug withdrawal ...does Bobby Fiddaman really think he can advise medical professionals?

Bobby Fiddaman


Bobby is a researcher and blogger and the author of The Evidence However is Clear: The Seroxat Scandal. Bobby’s book documents his struggle to withdraw from the psychiatric drug Seroxat (Aropax in New Zealand) and the work he has done to
raise awareness of the harms of psychiatric drugs, challenge the failure of international regulators to safeguard consumers and expose the fraudulent marketing practices of the pharmaceutical companies.

Bobby has developed a withdrawal protocol to support those withdrawing from psychiatric drugs and provide advice to medical professionals, counsellors and other professionals assisting those people.

Workshop: Safe Withdrawal from Psychiatric Drugs

This workshop will provide information on the development and marketing of psychiatric drugs and processes which result in most adverse reactions being identified only after their release in the market. It will present the evidence on addiction,
withdrawal and discontinuation syndrome associated with antidepressants, outline current and best practice in safe withdrawal including information and advice on managing suicide risk during the withdrawal period.


source - http://www.casper.org.nz/sites/default/files/homepage-promo/Conference%20Programme%20Final.pdf