Pepper spray use in youth prisons irresponsible amid racial disparities, watchdog warns

The rollout of synthetic pepper spray for use to incapacitate jailed children is “wholly irresponsible” while black and minority prisoners are more likely to be subjected to force than white inmates, a watchdog has said.Elisabeth Davies, the national chair of the Independent Monitoring Boards, whose members operate in every prison in England and Wales, said the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, should pause the use of Pava spray in youth offending institutions (YOIs) until ministers had addressed the disproportionate use of force on minority prisoners.“There is clear racial disproportionality when it comes to the use of force,” she told the Guardian. “It is therefore, I think, wholly irresponsible to expand use-of-force measures before disproportionality issues are addressed.”Mahmood authorised the rollout of Pava across YOIs in England and Wales in April amid growing demands from the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) to protect staff from attacks

Ondine Sherwood obituary

My friend Ondine Sherwood, who has died from lung cancer aged 65, was one of the earliest campaigners for the recognition of Long Covid. Having failed to recover fully from Covid-19 in March 2020, she discovered that others were suffering similarly and GPs did not seem to know how to diagnose them. Ondine rapidly became the main spokesperson for the patient-created term “Long Covid”. She founded the group Long Covid SOS that June and secured charitable status and trustees.Ondine lobbied politicians, doctors and civil servants for recognition of the illness

The debate over assisted dying and palliative care | Letters

I do not disagree with Gordon Brown that palliative care should be better funded, but to present palliative care as the alternative to assisted dying is to present a false equivalence, since the principles behind the two are quite different (MPs have personal beliefs, but also solemn duties: that’s why they must reject the assisted dying bill this week, 16 June).The principle behind the entitlement to good palliative care is that one should be entitled to good medical care – in this instance, as death approaches. The principle behind the right to an assisted death is that one should be entitled to determine the time and manner of one’s passing.If one were always to prioritise the right to good medical care above the right to have control over one’s death, it is unlikely that assisted dying would ever be legalised, as there will always be some medical care for somebody that could be better funded. But that is to choose to prioritise one principle over another

NHS nurse ordered to remove ‘antisemitic’ watermelon video call background launches legal action

A senior NHS nurse who says he was ordered to remove a background on his video calls that showed a fruit bowl containing a watermelon because it could be perceived as antisemitic has launched legal action against his employer.Ahmad Baker, who is British-Palestinian and works at Whipps Cross hospital, north London, is one of three medical staff claiming Barts Health NHS trust’s ban on staff displaying symbols perceived as politically or nationally affiliated is disproportionate and discriminatory. Watermelons became symbols of Palestine amid censorship of the Palestinian flag because of its similar colours.Barts, which runs five London hospitals, introduced the ban in March in its updated uniform and dress code policy, which extends to items on workstations, laptops and iPads, even if staff are working from home and not seeing patients.The policy says it is in keeping with the trust’s responsibility to be “completely apolitical and non-biased in our care”, but the claimants point to Barts’ support for Ukraine

Teenagers who report addictive use of screens at greater risk of suicidal behaviour, study shows

Teenagers who show signs of being addicted to social media, mobile phones or video games are at greater risk of suicidal behaviour and emotional problems, according to research.A study, which tracked more than 4,000 adolescents for four years, found that nearly one in three reported increasingly addictive use of social media or mobile phones. Those whose use followed an increasingly addictive trajectory had roughly double the risk of suicidal behaviour at the end of the study.The findings do not prove screen use was the cause of mental health problems. But they highlight that compulsive use, which appears to be very common, as a significant risk factor that parents and healthcare services should be alert to

US supreme court upholds Tennessee ban on youth gender-affirming care

A Tennessee state law banning gender-affirming care for minors can stand, the US supreme court has ruled, a devastating loss for trans rights supporters in a case that could set a precedent for dozens of other lawsuits involving the rights of transgender children.The case, United States v Skrmetti, was filed last year by three families of trans children and a provider of gender-affirming care. In oral arguments, the plaintiffs – as well as the US government, then helmed by Joe Biden – argued that Tennessee’s law constituted sex-based discrimination and thus violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Under Tennessee’s law, someone assigned female at birth could not be prescribed testosterone, but someone assigned male at birth could receive those drugs.Tennessee, meanwhile, has argued that the ban is necessary to protect children from what it termed “experimental” medical treatment