Poorly regulated clinics in England are putting children with ADHD at risk, warn doctors

Children with ADHD are being put at risk by poorly regulated private clinics that prescribe powerful stimulants without key physical examinations, doctors have warned.A surge in remote-only assessments has led to what one clinician described as “widespread and unsafe practice”, where children are being diagnosed and medicated via video link. The clinical warnings have now forced health authorities in Greater Manchester to overhaul prescribing rules, mandating face-to-face checks to protect the safety of children.Rashad Nawaz, a consultant paediatrician with clinics in Manchester and Liverpool, has written to national regulators and health bodies. He warned that he had treated young patients with potential underlying heart conditions who had been prescribed stimulants by national online providers without a single in-person check

Researchers praise ‘stunning’ results of new prostate cancer treatment

A new drug for advanced prostate cancer has shown promise in early trials experts have said, with the medication shrinking tumours in some patients.Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in many countries, including the US and UK. About 1.5 million men are diagnosed worldwide each year.The new drug has caused excitement as it is a type of treatment called immunotherapy

Scouting America to reinstate ban on trans children to appease Pentagon

Scouting America will alter several policies at the urging of the Pentagon, including one targeting transgender children, the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, announced on Friday as he pushes a campaign against military support for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.Some of the changes mirror what the organization suggested to the defense department in January, which included discontinuing its citizenship in society merit badge and introducing a military service merit badge as well as waiving registration fees for the children of military personnel.Under Hegseth, the Pentagon has taken aim at the military’s partnership with Scouting America, decrying its historic rebrand in 2024 from the Boy Scouts and other changes in recent years that he sees as part of “woke culture” efforts that he wants to root out.Hegseth said in a video posted on X that, after 2012, the “Boy Scouts lost their way and a once great organization became gravely wounded. Diversity, equity and inclusion, DEI, crept in

Mental health units discharging eating disorder patients with ‘dangerously low’ BMIs

Patients with eating disorders are being discharged from mental health units even though they are still very thin and have “dangerously low” body mass index levels.Some hospitals are sending home people whose BMIs are as low as 12.5, despite usual clinical practice in the NHS seeking to wait until a BMI of 18 or 19 has been achieved.The early discharges were revealed through freedom of information requests to NHS mental health trusts in England submitted by Hope Virgo, a prominent eating disorders campaigner.Experts said the revelation was “horrifying” and was probably linked to NHS services struggling to cope with a rise in demand

Diagnosing mental health conditions need not be a case of yes/no | Letters

Lucy Foulkes explores the possibility that the rising numbers of young people receiving a diagnosis of mental illness or ADHD are subjects of overdiagnosis (Are we really overdiagnosing mental illness?, 22 February). She posits that changes in terminology, increasing societal awareness and reductions in stigma are all factors in the increase in diagnoses.However, there is another way of looking at this issue. If we treat ADHD as binary (you have it or you do not), we are missing the possibility that we all lie somewhere on a continuum with diagnosed ADHD towards one end (and perhaps an ability to focus and concentrate at the other). A diagnosis of ADHD then depends on where the line is drawn

‘Violent bully’ who broke partner’s neck and left her paralysed jailed for 16 years

A “violent and controlling bully” who broke his partner’s neck, leaving her paralysed and her life “destroyed”, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.Robert Easom, a landscape gardener, violently assaulted Trudi Burgess, a schoolteacher and former singer, when she threatened to leave him after enduring eight years of coercive, controlling behaviour.A court heard that Easom, 57, pinned Burgess down in a rage and pushed her head into her body until her neck snapped. He denied a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent but was found guilty after 27 minutes of deliberation by a jury at Preston crown court in November.He had admitted causing the injury but denied intending to cause her serious harm